Call of the Heart
by TheNewWritersOnTheBlock
Summary: Jack has been noticing his dear friend acting weird lately, but when he has a dream about getting a desperate call from said friend he becomes worried and decides to visit him. But what he finds are several other Marks waiting to meet him inside the gamer's head. Can Jack somehow defeat the seven other personalities and save his best friend's life? Septiplier, Darkiplier/Jack
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Inspired by watching Mark's Markiplier TV, I've had this sort of story in my head for a long time, originally not as a fanfic but I wanted it to come to life in some shape or form. So before I continue I wanna say that I have done a lot of research in terms of the mental condition, Dissociative Identity Disorder, and have had experiences with people diagnosed with it. But I do apologize if I offend anyone with it or to whom has more knowledge about it, and I am certainly not trying to disregard it as something fictional. For the sake of this story however it will be fantastical and exaggerated for plotline purposes. And the personalities will be a little out of character, as I am using Mark's actual characters (i.e. Dark of course and Wilford, etc) and want it to fit in certain personality patterns and roles I have noticed in people with D.I.D. I also will be giving some of them human names or nicknames cause ya know, it's easier. I also am a supporter of both Jack and Mark's relationships, but I'm such a fan of Septiplier I can't help it. So without further adieu, enjoy!**

He hadn't noticed it at first, how the brunette sometimes acted a little off when they played a game or whenever he watched his videos; sometimes even when they met up in real life. He would act unusual, nervous or even very chaotic; which was not something the trademark gamer that 17 Million people knew him was like. He thought it was just stress getting to his friend, but this was something completely different. It had come to his attention that this thing the American was dealing with, force to deal with really, had apparently been a prominent problem in his life whether or not the 27 year old knew it himself. The Irishman wasn't stupid; he was keen on change whenever it came to his friends, so the fact that said friend had no clue what was going on worried him even more.

But here he was, playing games with him as if nothing were wrong and all was right in the world. With loud screaming blasting from his headphones, the green haired man couldn't help but giggle. It was nice, to be in a short lived reality where he didn't have to suspect the obvious thing tugging at his mind lately. Nothing in particular set it off; not really anyway. It was just something Jack had noticed last time he talked to his fellow YouTuber. Ever since then it had become a nagging thought ceasing to leave. He was concerned, in a position where he wasn't entirely sure what he could do or if he should talk to Mark about what he was so perplexed about. But nonetheless he didn't want to focus on it at the moment, hoping it really was just what he suspected it to be.

"Fookin' hell Mark, " he retorted, watching Mark dying once again and howling in laughter as his frustrated friend grumble a string of curses at his attempts.

"Well whatever!" The other finally said, huffing out and pushing himself away from the keyboard.

"Alright, that's all the time we have left. Thank you guys for watching and as well always, I will see you all in the next video, ba bye!"

Jack in turn did his own outro and switch off the recording, still connected to Mark via video messaging.

"So we still on for tomorrow?" He asked, grinning excitedly. He loved playing games with his friends, not to mention Mark who had become a big part of his own life recently.

"Of course! I have shit to do earlier but same time as today and I'm all yours," Mark replied, smiling back as well. Jack couldn't help but let his mood falter slightly, not knowing why exactly. There it was again, pounding against the walls of his mind.

"Hey um, Mark," he started, gulping nervously. He could feel his chest sink, debating whether or not to ask him the question that racked his brain perpetually. He trailed off and left the american confused, opening his mouth to say something but nothing coming out. Mark waited patiently, growing slightly anxious at the ongoing silence from his best friend.

"Everything okay, Jack?" He asked softly, kind as he ever was. This brought comfort to Jack, but it didn't suppress his disconcert for the older man.

"Yeah, um, it's nothing don't worry about it."

He decided not to bring it up now: they were having such a nice evening and he didn't want to ruin it by asking something so silly. It was just in his head that there was something wrong, even if admittedly Jack himself didn't know what exactly was wrong, he just knew something strange was going on.

"Oh, okay, well you can talk to me about anything you know," he replied smoothly, showing his sunny smile on the camera to the Irishman.

"Thanks, sorry," Jack chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. The way Mark was smiling at him however seemed weird to him, not quite "Mark" if that made sense. Almost forced, not matching his eyes which looked more serious. Taking a deep breath, Jack said his goodbyes and exited out of the video chat, sitting in his chair for a long moment. It was getting late here, so maybe after a good night sleep things would work out.

The next morning went on normally as expected, making his daily video, editing most of it, and spending mindless time messing around on the internet. Just a calm, relaxing start to the day in good old Ireland. Jack noted to himself that he should probably go to the corner market to pick up some things for dinner, and grabbed his keys, wallet, and jacket. He had lunch plans with an old time friend of his who was passing by Ireland to get back home in England, and decided to at least visit him on his way. It had been far too long since he last saw Felix, and was happy to have the interaction with the Swede. He also had to remember that he and Mark were going to play games later, when the older man got up anyway. So the small 27 year old walked past his car and strided listlessly down the busy sidewalks of Dublin. It was cloudy as usual, but that wasn't anything new in this country. He was happy that it was starting to get warmer, seeing as Spring was on it's way and he couldn't have been more relieved. Not that the gamer minded the winter much, he just preferred it not to get so cold his balls were literally freezing off. True that if he were cold enough he could have taken his car, but it was such a short walk he saw no reason to anyway.

He browsed the store wistful as he gathered what he needed. Maybe he should make a care package for Mark, just as a reminder that he was thinking of his friend and hoped it would help him relax a little. Perplexed by this idea, the small man cheerfully searched from items he figured would bring comfort to the other, wondering what else he could do. He wasn't sure, but lately along with worry he felt this bubbly leap in his chest at the thought of the American YouTuber, figuring it was nothing to focus too much on since he and Mark had been friends for several years now. Once he bought all the items necessary, he went straight home and got ready for his lunch date. Luckily he was getting picked up, which meant more time spending with Felix which he always liked.

"There you are, I was wondering when you'd show," Jack mocked, sliding in the passenger's seat of the rental car. The sandy blonde just rolled his eyes yet gave a friendly smile at the Irishman, chuckling.

"I mean, I just got here man," he replied softly, turning back onto the street.

"How you liking Ireland?"

"It fucking sucks, but not as bad as your horrendous face," Felix jibed back, obvious tease in his voice. The two friends shared a laugh and sat in a comfortable content sheen of quietness.

"Alright, where to cabbie?" The green haired man asked, giggling when the Swedish YouTuber snorted and yipped a "hey" at him.

"Like fuck if I know, I don't go to Dublin bro. You tell me."

Playfully defeated, Jack directed him to his personal favourite restaurant in the city, fortunately finding a parking spot in the bustling streets. The pair went inside and were lead to a booth where they sat and scanned over the menu.

"How was Greece?" The younger asked, deciding what he wanted and attempting to start up a conversation.

"It was so gorgeous, the hotel Marzia and I got was amazing and this this weird sort of indoor/outdoor pool thing. It was really nice actually, but I liked it a lot. I would absolutely go there again. How's it going for you?" Felix asked in return, setting his menu down.

"Well pretty good, although…"

Would it be a good idea to confine in Felix about his concerns for Mark?

"Has Mark been acting weird to you at all?" He finished, pursing his lips in a straight line. The swede took a minute to think over and shook his head, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"Not that I know. Why, did something happen?"

"I dunno man, I don't think so but he seems kinda depressed lately actually. Just curious if you knew what was up," Jack shrugged, trying to be nonchalant about it.

"Last time I talked to him he was telling me about probably going to a therapist. He's always been kinda weird, you know what I mean?"

This was true, he'd known Mark was easily depressed and sensitive to certain things, not to mention rarely talked about his past. But it was never brought up in conversation anyway, so Jack hadn't bothered to ask. He'd seen a strange progression throughout the years in his friend, not becoming anything alarming until just recently, especially when he watched a video of Mark freaking out whilst playing a Mario Maker game. Again, Jack only hoped it was stress that was bothering the American.

"Yeah true, I guess I'm paranoid for nothing then, huh?"

Felix shrugged in turn, relaying to the waitress what they both wanted before turning his attention back to the smaller male.

"That's not a bad thing. Why not ask him about?"

"I tried to last night but I was too chicken shit. I hate causing drama."

"It's not drama, dude," the blonde laughed lightly, leaning back in the cushioned chair and sliding a lopsided smile into his face. "Not if it's serious shit."

"But I don't know if it's actually anything serious. It must be if he's got a fucking therapist," he argued, sipping his water.

"Try talking to him then, I don't know what else to tell you. And if he doesn't wanna talk then there's not a lot we can do."

He deeply appreciated how calmly Felix was about this while the Irishman was over in the corner freaking out. It was reassuring to have him around as the voice of reason, not that Jack often asked for his opinion on things. That would just make the blonde 27 year old even more cocky than he acted.

"Hey, is everything okay with you guys?" Felix suddenly asked, smirking suggestively at him. Of course, Jack didn't understand exactly what was meant by that but decided to shrug it off as a playful poke.

"Yeah? Has he said anything mean about me?"

"That your accent is stupid and you're Irish," he bursted out laughing, digging into the food when it was brought to them.

"But just noticing things between you two, that's all," Felix interjected with a mouth full of sausage and veggies.

"Are you a damn Septiplier fan too?" The other joked, lightly kicking him under the table.

"Damn right I am, biggest one of them all."

Jack thought long and hard about his unnecessary prattling over their friend and decided to get back on that later and switch to another subject. Not long after they finished up their meal and cleaned up, saying their thank yous and getting into the car.

"Thanks for lunch, get home safe okay?" Jack waved goodbye, watching the Swede leave and wave back, zipping away. He got inside and collapsed on the couch, switching on the telly as background noise. Since when did he do nothing but think of Mark lately? It was like he couldn't help it. Obviously he wanted his friend to be alright but to an extent that he himself was causing so much stress over nothing; well hopefully nothing. He wasn't some smitten teenage girl or some stupid shit like that, he roused to himself.

Speaking of the gamer, Jack checked the time and got on his desktop, loading everything and sending a quick text to Mark to see if he was up. Much to his dismay he didn't seem to be yet, but the younger wasn't in an any hurry. After an hour had passed he finally got a message back from a half awake Markiplier, taking a while to finally get himself situated.

"Hey, sorry about that, I uh, kind of overslept.." he yawned, making loud obnoxious noises into the mic that made Jack snicker.

"Oh, no problem Mark, what should we play?"

Hearing a melodic hum from the other side, the brunette clicked his tongue in thought.

"How abooout, Bloody Death Trap?" He suggested.

"Yeah! Sounds like fun!"

As they got ready they contemplated whether or not just to do it for fun or make a video about it, and went against it. Tonight would be just their personal fun day, it wasn't often the two boys got to play games together anymore.

He was just glad everything finally seemed to be back to normal.

-What was that sound?

Jack opened his eyes slightly, his mind jogging itself awake and making him aware that his phone was crying out at him. Clumsily he grabbed at it, making several attempts to swipe the screen as the bright light blinded his vision momentarily.

"Hello?" He croaked, leaning up on his elbows.

"Jacky, thank god you answered."

Now less groggy, the green haired 27 year old fully sat up on his bed, rubbing his eyes.

"Mark? What's wrong?"

"I'm so sorry but there isn't a lot of time, Mark needs help. He's not doing well right now and you're the only one that can actually do anything about it. Please help."

What the fuck was going on?

"Wait I'm really confused, why are you fockin' talking in third person?" Jack asked, standing up and looking at the clock.

"I apologize that I don't have time right now to explain it, but sadly the psychiatrist isn't helping him and he's getting worse," Mark, or someone who sounded like him, kindly answered. The way he spoke alarmed Jack, sounding urgent in a way that he had never heard him talk before.

"Um, okay, so what do I do?"

He waited anxiously for an answer, completely lost and weary.

"What do you think? God, and we thought you were supposed to be smart too. It's what's supposed to be in the writing isn't it?" Mark snapped, growling. Baffled at the uncharacteristic change, he half mindedly confided that Mark was possibly drunk or something like that in order for him to be that erratic.

"Look man, you should go lay down. I don't know what's going on but I think you're drunk. I hope you are cause go to sleep dude," he finally replied, sucking in a deep breath. It was 6 in the morning here and god only knows what time it was over there but it was sure to be late.

"He's not drunk, it clearly says he's losing control. Haven't you read a book before or are you illiterate too? Jacksepticeye will now get offended by what Arthur says but will-"

Jack pressed the end call button, shaking his head. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Mark being a jackass to him. Although that wasn't like him at all, he was a happy giggly drunk, not an angry one. Aside from that it was rare for him even drink. His phone buzzed once more, contemplating for a split second if he was ready to get insulted again.

"You son of a bitch, you weren't supposed to hang up."

"Dude stop with yelling, what the hell is going on?"

He heard the older man let out an exasperated sigh, probably shaking his head.

"I can't do this, Markus you need to talk to this idiot."

After a minute of deep breathing, the tone of his voice changed toward Jack, being calm and patient.

"Sean, I know this is all very frightening for you but when is the next flight you can get to America?"

Mark never called him that, not even when he was talking about him.

"Probably this afternoon but I don't know. Are you okay?"

"We.. Mark is in fact hurt, but he's going to get some help. Please come as soon as you can, we're counting on you."

The phone hung up on the other end and the green haired lad set his phone down, shaking and rubbing his head. There was no way that was real, he needed to just wake up now. So he closed his eyes and breathed in.-


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: So fair warning to anyone sensitive to things like depression and suicidal, that's in this chapter. Also violence**

Chapter Two: The Visit

The sunlight was what stirred him, forcing his eyes to open and flicker around the room. Dazed and confused, Jack slowly sat up and crossed his legs on the soft sheets. Remembering what had happened last night, he frantically reached for his phone to check his call history. There was no record of Mark calling him at all, so he settled on the likelihood that it had just been a dream. He was relieved, shaking his head at how ridiculous it was of him to be so worried that he'd fantasized something as silly as getting drunk dialed from the other. It seemed terrifyingly real to him, but what was with the mood swings Mark was having? It felt like the green haired Irishman had been talking to three different people who all sounded exactly like the YouTuber he knew, but not. Deciding to just proceed with his day like normal, the small man stripped himself of his clothing and got into the shower. It felt good, the way the water hit his back and slithered its way down. Grabbing the shampoo and washing his obnoxiously green hair, he quickly finished up and wrapped a towel over his waist, staring into the mirror.

"You look terrible," he mumbled to himself, tracing fingertips under his eyes where black bags had formed. The steam coming off him clouded his reflection, subconsciously causing him to reach and wipe it when something caught his attention. His heart picked up as he blinked slowly at the outline of someone behind him, stopping his actions. His eyes wide and the hair standing on his arms, the small male swallowed dryly when the shadow took a step closer. Hesitating for only a moment, he whipped his head behind him, preparing to brace himself to face whatever it was. Fortunately it was nothing, but that didn't stop the unsettling feeling that swelled up inside him. His dream already had him wired, but perhaps he was a little sleep deprived.

Jack cautiously stepped out and practically leaped to his room to fetch some clothes, frowning when he got a creepy feeling crawl up his spine. Then he sat atop his duvet and laced his fingers together in thought. Should he do what the dream told him to? Always having been the superstitious type, the small Irishman decided to at least call Mark before doing something that huge. Judging from last night however he seemed completely fine, at least that's what Jack desperately wanted to believe. So he picked up his phone once more and scrolled through the list of contacts until he selected the name of one and only. His leg bounced restlessly as it rung, time ticking slowly as if every second dragged on into hours.

"Hey-"

"Mark!"

"Sorry I can't answer the phone right now, but leave me a message and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can, thank you." The automated voice mail finished.

Jack's heart sank a little, gulping and wrapping an arm around his abdomen.

"Hey buddy, it's me, Sean. Anyway, um, call me back soon okay? It's kinda dumb but I'm sure you're just busy or sleeping right now. Alright bye."

The green haired man let out a shaky sigh, rubbing the palm of his hand against his thigh nervously. He sat quietly for what seemed like far too long, finally getting up and sliding into his office chair, fingers gliding along the keys swiftly. He was gonna risk looking stupid, flying all the way to Los Angeles even though there was a 50/50 chance that he had been making this all up. But he'd never felt this much anxiety before, it didn't make sense to him. Nonetheless he bought a plane ticket and hurriedly packed up what he needed for the short stay, reminding himself that he should make a video or something to tell his fans he wouldn't be posting anything for a while.

Jack didn't bother taking his car as he surmised at how difficult transporting it would be, only to be repeating the whole process again once he was done, especially when he didn't know for sure how long he was going to spend down at Mark's. These thoughts only became a low hum in the back of his mind as he stared out the window of the cab, chewing at his bottom lip in a dazed stupor. He was focused, for the most part anyway, on what he needed to do, coming up with back up plans in case there really was something wrong or if Mark was fine. Either way, it would be nice just to see him in person again. The only times they got to hang out were at cons or just for fun sometimes if it was on the way or in the budget. Just the thought of seeing his friend helped him distress a little, finding himself smiling ever so slightly.

The trip took far too long in his opinion, and he could feel the effects of the jet lag settle in his system, yawning loudly and trying his hardest not to get groggy. Nearly 11 hours of flying was too much for the gamer, grumbling at the sun that was trying to burn out his eyeballs. Despite Jack's temporary misery, he managed to get himself safely to Mark's house and gathered his things. His heart pounding so hard it rang in his ears, the 27 year old sucked in a breath and knocked on the door timidly. When no answer came after a short wait, he tried again but a little louder this time.

"Mark?"

Nothing.

The green haired lad reached for the doorknob, eyebrows creasing when it opened easily. He slowly stepped inside, shutting it behind him as discreetly as he could.

"Mark? It's Sean!" He called out, setting his luggage near the entrance and shrugging off his coat. He could hear creaking in the floorboards upstairs, slow and heavy as they made their way to the stairway. Jack found himself catching a glimpse of the outline of Mark on the top, not moving an inch as goosebumps prickled all throughout his skin. Each step that was taken was firm, purposeful and not at all like Mark's regular foot prints. His eyes met with scrutinizing brown ones, feeling more confused than ever. The energy around him was unlike anything he recognized when it came to his friend. A dark smirk slid across Mark's face, stopping only when he was just a few feet in front of Jack and folding his hands neatly behind his back.

"I've been waiting a long time to finally come out and… personally, see you," he drawled, gaze sliding up and down the smaller man's body for an uncomfortable amount of time. He experienced immense satisfaction when Jack took a step back, baffled.

"What the holy fook…?" Jack whispered. Mark only let out a deep rumble that was supposed to resemble a chuckle, bringing forth his arms to reveal fresh claw mark like cuts scattered along his forearms. The 27 year old couldn't help but raise a hand to his mouth to hide a horrified gasp, his blue eyes flickering up to once again meet Mark's in panic.

"You'd better get him some help, he's not doing so well," the brunette sneered, dropping arms to his sides. He closed his eyes and took a long inhale, fluttering open dully before falling on his knees and collapsing to the wooden floor. An alarmed Jack rushed over to the other gamer and let out a string of curses as he tried to grab ahold of him and ended up smearing blood all over himself.

"Stay with me Mark!"

After he leaned him against the wall, Jack took out his phone and dialed for an ambulance, trying his hardest not to choke in the middle of talking. Not long after there was banging on the door with EMT's being lead in, lifting the muscular man onto the gurney and pushing it into the vehicle. Jack accompanied them, staring blankly at the walls and answering the questions they asked absentmindedly. He replayed what had happened between him and Mark, wrapping his arms tightly around himself for comfort.

The employees rushed the passed out 27 year old to the ER and asked for Jack to stay in the waiting room until further notice. To him it felt like hours, years even as he stood by for any news, anything to tell him that Mark wasn't dead. This whole thing was just insane, that his dream had actually been right when it came to his friend being injured. As he closed his eyes, he couldn't get the image of the red blood running down Mark's arms with all those open gashes out of his head, making him rub his temples. God dammit, he felt so useless just sitting here overwrought in this stupid chair in this room where a few other glum looking people sat quietly.

"Sean McLoughlin?" A woman called out, Jack immediately standing up and skipping to the uniformed worker.

"Is he okay?!" He shouted, placing his hands on her shoulders. She gave him an assured smile.

"He's in stable condition, but right now he's asleep. You can come into the room now if you'd like," she offered, leading him down the stretched out white halls, their shoes squeaking against the tiled floor.

"Is he your boyfriend?" She asked politely, giving him a plastered smile.

"W-What?" Jack stuttered, his cheeks heating up only faintly, shaking his head and laughing nervously. "No, he's just a really good friend."

"Oh, sorry I didn't mean to offend you, I just thought since you two seemed close. My mistake."

Shaking his head at the question, the thin male finally got to the room Mark was sleeping in, bolting over to the bed and sitting in the chair beside it. He looked really bad, his naturally tan skin more pale and dark heavy bags worse than his own under his eyes. His breathing was too shallow for Jack's liking, reminding him a lot of the videos the brunette had made while in the hospital due to a prior incident. He hated it, this pit in his stomach at the sight of the pain Mark was in. When the nurse finished up checking on him and the machines she left the room, closing the door behind her to give them privacy. The green haired man stole the opportunity to rest his arms on the edge of the bed, leaning his head on them. He was so relieved by the fact that the older man was alive, hissing out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding on.

"What happened to you?" He asked himself softly, slowly reaching over to grab Mark's hand into his own. He blinked, frozen as he registered that he wasn't in the hospital anymore. He was in a conference room, well sort of, with tall glass walls that reached up higher than he could see and chairs circled neatly around a table. The door opened rather loudly, a slightly taller, clean shaven Mark stepping in with two other Mark's not far behind him. Jack rubbed his eyes, bulging out with uncertainty that what he was seeing was real. Did he fall asleep?

"Hello Sean, I apologize for what you had to deal with earlier," he started, his eyes full of sincerity and concern. The second Mark huffed out, not looking at Jack as if he were upset about something. This second one was also clean shaven but resembled a much younger looking Markiplier when he had his stupid fohawk. He had on a dress shirt that was untucked and messy like he didn't care. The third Mark had these remarkable silver eyes that glowed in the light, his hair longer than the others and swept to the side. The first one treaded carefully toward Jack and sat down in the chair next to the started Irishmen.

"I'm Markus Iplier," he introduced, holding out his hand. When Jack took it he smiled, giving it a squeeze before shaking it. "The grumpy one is Arthur, and the one with the bright grey eyes is Silver."

Silver kindly grinned at him, evoking a familiar glow in the younger's chest.

"I, uh, who? What is…?" He tried, the words falling off his tongue into a jumble of mind babbling incompetence. Markus laughed.

"It's… a long story. But I will tell you who we are."

Jack looked between the three, curious but terrified to find out what was happening.

"So, as I'm sure you're aware there are three Mark's at this moment. But we are not Mark, none of us are." He took a deep breath, trying to accentuate that fact.

Jack nodded slowly, watching Markus choose his words carefully.

"We are personalities made up by Mark to help cope with past grievances and traumas, and we all are sort of like our own people, because we have come to existence. I know what you must be thinking but yes there are more than just us three, four more in fact. You in some way are strongly connected to Mark, which is why you're able to see us with your own perception, and why you're able to enter what we call the hub."

"Wait wait wait, so the dream I had was actually you talking to me? Or was it just some creepy coincidence?" The other asked, fiddling his fingers with the hem of his shirt as he listened.

"As I said, you're very strongly connected so it is entirely possible you got our message. It wasn't intentional from me but I am glad you were given some sort of sign. Clearly you were meant to come and help Mark."

"Why did he hurt himself in the first place? Or was he already hurt?"

The older man stilled, staring hard at the table top and thought for a while.

"He has a lot of hurt and darkness in his heart. And unfortunately has for a long time.."

"He was abused that's why," Arthur interjected, getting punched in the arm by Silver. As if Jack's eyes weren't any wider, his mouth opened a little at the new information.

"H-He was?" The Irish YouTuber whispered, dumbfounded. Sure Mark never talked much about his childhood other than his father dying, but him being abused was the very last thing he expected. He often was so happy and genuine and giggly; that's why people loved him so much.

"Yes, but I don't think it's our place to be telling you exactly what happened," Markus answered calmly, giving an air of authority towards the other two behind him.

"Okay… wow, I don't know what to say…" Jack breathed, swallowing a dry lump that had been stuck in his throat.

"That's quite alright Sean, we don't expect you to fully understand right away. This is going to be a lot for me to ask you but," he extended an arm to grab the other's smaller one, holding it in a way that matched his fond expression. "We need you to help us. We all believe you can fix this, that you can make it so that Mark isn't so.. broken."

"But if he's got you guys, doesn't that mean helping him will get rid of you?"

Markus nodded slowly, sighing softly.

"It's a little more complicated than that.."

"Wait, that's not part of the story!"

They all looked at Arthur, who had a livid countenance about him. Markus didn't look too pleased at the outburst and stood up, striding over to him and leaning in to whisper something into the other's ear. After a flash of mixed emotions displayed on his face he finally settled down, grumbling light insults and taking out a small notebook to write in it. The oldest of the three turned back and gave Jack an apologetic curve of his lips, coming to stand in front of him.

"So, will you help us?"

Jack rubbed his forehead and clicked in tongue in contemplation, having a harder time trying to understand this than he should have been.

"I mean, I want to help Mark, so.. I-I guess yeah. What do you need me to do?"

Markus gestured his head to Arthur who reluctantly stepped in and placed his booklet onto the table.

"When two people are linked emotionally then they have a bond. Because you and Mark are so close we all believe you can do this, cause I don't know about you but I don't think either of his idiot friends are gonna help much. So what you need to do is try to concentrate on your own and open up a passageway so you can get through from the real world to his mind. And before you ask, yes it is possible, and no you're not crazy for not believing us. But if you can't do it then fuck off so we can try to find someone else. If Mark's body dies, we all do as well. And it says he's clearly suicidal, as you could probably guess. Now quit whining and cooperate with us. Go it?" Arthur explained, folding his arms to his chest. The smaller 27 year old nodded his head and closed his mouth so as not to say anything that might piss him off, looking to Markus for anymore guidance.

"You're going to wake up now, alright? When you do please try your best to connect back to us, we can't help you anymore than giving you this message."

Before Jack could reply he was back in the hospital like he was before, jumping when a voice called out to him.

"Sir are you alright?" A nursed asked him, frowning.

"Huh? Oh, yeah of course! Just tired."

He let out a yawn to show her there was nothing to be concerned over and was grateful she accepted his answer, walking out of the room. Averting his eyes back at the unconscious Mark, Jack leaned in and inspected him, trying to figure out exactly how he was going to do what Markus and Arthur instructed him to do. Something about all of them reminded him of characters his friend had made up in his videos, wondering if Jack was imagining all of this. But nonetheless he tried and once again held tightly onto Mark's hand.

"Okay, please work," he pleaded, closing his eyes and trying his best to connect. To be honest he felt a little dumb, hoping no one would walk in on him. Fortunately he found himself back in the meeting room, yet it was disturbingly empty.

"Hello?" He yelled out, waiting for an answer of some sort. A shuffling could be heard, and a large shadow passing swiftly through the glass windows. "Markus?"

The young man opened the door and peered out, dim lights dispersed all around a vast open plain of pitch darkness. Summoning up all the courage he could, he laid a foot down on the ground in front of him, taking careful steps as he walked farther away from the meeting room. It was muted, everything around the Irish boy, sort of eery but calming at the same time. He didn't dare make any more noise than he had to though, just in case something came out. He searched around him as he ambled down the spots of light, avoiding being in them so not to be seen. With every pace Jack took, he could feel another one behind him. Despite peeking to see if he was being followed, nothing appeared to be there. Little spots of pink and green coloured lights fell from the sky, trickling down as they started to collect and coat the black ground in an array of luminosity, pulsing as if it were alive. As it continued to fade and glow like waves, Jack hurried himself along. The floor trembled, making him trip on his knees and scurry away from the piles of gleaming specks, watching them rise and form together until tall disfigured amalgamations that limped sprouted, their long arms dragging. The one in front of Jack had a drooped face with its giant head bent forward, it's entire body dull grey as if it were sad. It had small teeth, but there were so many it was hard to tell the amount. It twitched its head when it noticed the small green haired gamer, leaping forward at him. He rolled to the side and scrambled onto his feet again, sprinting full speed to get away. The creature crawled after him, twisting its limbs far enough to look like they were broken, catching up quickly. He zipped past new forming monsters, desperately trying to find some sort of shelter, anything that he could hide behind or in. Jack found a baseball bat on the ground as he ran, only stopping to pick it up and brought some distance between him and the thing so he could face it. It stopped when he did, moving its head to look at Jack properly and let out a shrieking whine, it's jaw unhinging. Biting back the quake in his limbs, the 27 year old shakily stood his ground and waited for the thing to attack. As expected but still surprising to him, the creature tackled him to the ground and snapped at him, growling as it spit thick saliva onto his face. Luckily the adrenaline in Jack's body made him throw the thing off of him and bash its head in with the metal bat, letting out sobs of fear as he continued to hit it hard. Once it stopped moving he dropped his weapon and fell to his knees, horrified at the blood like fluid on his arms and shirt. He pressed his hands to either side of his face and screamed out, shutting his eyes tightly.

Jack opened them again after a while of silence, a familiar periodic beep coming to his attention. He was back with Mark, frantically looking everywhere and wiping his tear ridden face. His heart was still racing and his body quaking, sucking in air to stop the crying. It took a while for him to calm down, holding onto Mark's hand for comfort before he got up and went to go get something to drink. He needed to take a break from everything, sit in a corner somewhere and get away before he started having an anxiety attack like he did just now.

Two days had passed since Mark was put in the emergency room and there were no signs of him waking up anytime soon. On the second day, Jack decided he would as to spend the night in the room with his best friend just in case he did ever wake up. As if he wasn't already overtaxed, he was racked with guilt that he had been so weak before, afraid to try and go back in. He didn't want to face those creatures again, he very nearly could have died had he not been lucky. He felt like a coward, shying away when the other gamer could be dying. So he stayed in the room, uselessly wishing for Mark to wake up until night fell and darkened the sky. -Jack leaned back in the chair as he watched his friend, eyelids drooping from sleep loss and letting them fall when he felt drowsy. He only shot them open when another Mark stood by the original, his skin grey and half shaven hair black. It was hard to focus on his as he looked almost the fuzzy outline of 3D without those glasses, but he did notice this man was brandishing a Irishman tried to speak, his voice closing up and body strapped to the chair he sat in. The grey Mark only smirked at him much like when Jack first arrived at his house, taking a hold of the wires that connected to the machines and violently yanked them, setting sparks off and making everything ablaze. Jack struggled against the binds, distraught as Mark started howling pain, thrashing in the bed and skin melting off of him.

"MARK!"-

He was yanked out his nightmare by a troubled employee who offered him some coffee shorty after. It was just a night terror…

The young man rubbed his tired eyes, clutching so hard on the handle of the mug his knuckles turned white as he was once again alone. He was really starting to abhor the sound of the heart monitor, making him it felt like. So with one final gulp he made a decision.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: The School

Jack wasn't in the office like he had been the last couple times he came to the mind, nor was he in the area he left. He spawned to a door that lead to an empty street, a nice looking neighborhood coming to his view. No one was around that he could see, not to mention there weren't any cars parked on the sides either. The sky was a dark grey, clouds covering any patch of sun that tried to shine through, and it made Jack think. If he was supposed to be in the mind of his friend then this would probably represent how he always felt. This very conclusion made Jack's heart ache for him, loathing how little he actually knew about him and the fact he had the audacity to freak out over a little glimpse of what Mark had to go through every day made him start to feel ashamed of himself.

The Irishman walked down the road and made his way closer to a school, his nerves wracked with anxiety and fear coursing through him. But he was determined to do whatever he could; that nightmare really made him realize how easily he actually can lose Mark. As he got to the gates, he noticed a girl with red dye on the top of her hair and the bottom part dark brown, exactly like how Mark's used to be and surmised it might be another personality. Although he was a little confused that this one appeared to be female, she was sported in one of those school girl uniforms, possibly Japanese? Being brave or just incredibly stupid, Jack got closer to the girl who's back was to him and hadn't seemed to notice him.

"Um, hello?" He started, hoping this personality was nice.

The young girl turned her head to him and in a split second it went from normal to wide eyed and smiling.

"Seonbae!" She squealed, latching herself onto him excited.

"S-Seonbae?" He stuttered, not understanding what she meant by that

"Yes, you're my Seonbae, Jack. Don't you recognize me? It's Mariko!" The red headed girl replied, holding onto him so tightly it hurt.

"Could you please let go? You're kinda cutting off circulation in my arm," He politely asked, pulling away from her. Her face flashed a distraught expression, looking up at him like he had done the most terrible thing in the world.

"D-Does Seonbae not like me?" She whimpered, tears bridging the sides of her eyes. He was at a loss for words, raising his hands up in surrender as he tried to console her.

"No no, you were just hurting me," he soothed, smiling a little nervously. She immediately brightened up and hugged his torso in a strong grip.

"Good! Cause I don't want Seonbae to hate me. I love my Seonbae~" Mariko giggled, grinning up at him. It made Jack feel incredibly unsettled, lightly tugging her off him and taking a step back.

"That's great.."

You fookin psychopathic pox.

The red haired girl quickly saw the dismay in his demeanor, her face growing grim and solemn.

"I'll make you love me soon enough," she growled, eyebrows furrowing. She spun away and ran off, leaving the baffled Irish YouTuber on his own on the school ground. He wasn't sure if he felt safer with or without anyone around, but regardless he continued on, making sure to check for Mariko. She was freaky that one, the way she changed moods at the drop of a hat. Sort of reminded him of this game he played once, but that wasn't important right now. First objective was to try and find Markus or Arthur; though he supposed but the last few conversations with Arthur weren't too pleasant so he'd likely much rather find Markus. He diligently crept inside the locker room and snuck to the halls, examining the parameter for any threats. Once he found no such thing, Jack made him way to the nearest open door and hid along the wall just next to the entrance, checking once again in the long, empty hallways.

"Sean."

Jack nearly jumped out of his skin with an inaudible gasp, putting a hand to his chest when he only saw Markus in a doctor's uniform.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack ya bastard!" He hissed, making the older man chuckle.

"I apologize, I didn't mean to."

"Why are you in a school nurse's uniform anyway?" He asked, smirking a bit.

"Huh? Oh, I'm a doctor. I forgot to tell you didn't I?" Markus smiled, pulling at the white coat and scrubs for emphasis.

"I can see that actually," Jack finished, looking him up and down.

"I'm glad you're here, I was getting worried you'd not want to come back after last time."

"Wait, how did you know..?" The smaller green haired man asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. Markus just smiled and sat next to Jack, whispering to him.

"In a sense we can all see what happens in here. We can't always do anything but I watched you fight. I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything to intervene," he apologized, his voice soft and deep in a way that made Jack's insides melt.

"I-It's alright. I was pretty selfish. Mark wouldn't wake up after a few days and… I kinda felt like it was my fault. And I had this nightmare that he died and… I don't want that to happen," Jack confessed, rubbing his neck. Markus stared at the younger, placing an arm around his shoulders and bringing him close.

"That won't happen. Not with you here at least," he assured. His eyes full of kindness and adoration for the Irishman. It made Jack hide his face away so Markus couldn't see the pink tint to his cheeks. God dammit if he didn't look so much like the original Markiplier.

"We should get going…" He coughed, averting his eyes from the doctor. He slowly got up and repeated his scouting, rushing out with Markus close to him. They skulked to the vacant rooms just to be sure that the coast was clear, and explored more. Jack noticed the subtle fluctuations in the older man's face on their journey, the most prominent of the emotions he showed being grief and sadness, as if reminiscing.

"Are you okay?" The 27 year old asked the personality. He heckled sheepishly and nodded, giving him a genuine smile.

"Don't worry, there's just a lot of memories here. Unfortunately none too happy.. But it's nothing to dwell on, let's continue."

Jack wasn't convinced but decided it wasn't worth making a huge fuss over if the other was reluctant to talk. They both heard shuffling and rapid squeaks on the ground, Markus yanking the younger male into a room as a small shadow sipped right by them. The Irish gamer was compelled to follow after them, starting to head out when the personality snatched his arm.

"Sean I don't think it's wise to do that, we don't know if it's safe enough out there for you," he warned, using his authoritative voice.

"Yeah but it looked like a child was running, they could be hurt!" Jack argued, pulling himself away and waiting for Markus to come with. The doctor stubbornly obliged to his whim, grumbling under his breath something about this being a bad idea. But he couldn't have said no to the green haired boy even if he wanted to.

They chased after the little shadow as fast as they could, the child panting like he was scared and running for his life which concerned Jack. It was possible that the kid was scared of them but he was sprinting long before the older men pursued him. It was strange how there really wasn't anyone to be seen in this giant school, not even those terrifying creatures he encountered before. What was a little kid doing when there was a possibly insane chick somewhere inside the building, waiting to make Jack "love her" or something like that? When they lost track of the kid, Jack searched around until he was sure he couldn't see him.

"I'll go this way and you go that way, okay?" He instructed, looking to Markus affirmatively.

"I don't feel comfortable splitting up when one of the other's is directly targeting you.." he protested, shaking his head. The younger man sighed and took the doctor's hands, staring straight at him.

"We'll cover more ground if we do this. It's stupid and I absolutely know it, but if there's a little child that might be hurt I'm not going to fookin stand around watch it happen."

Markus internally slapped himself and huffed, glaring a hole to the ground.

"Fine.."

He was letting his feelings get in the way.

Jack smiled and hugged him, bolting down and taking a sharp left, leaving the personality standing there to watch him leave.

The little boy, he found out it was, was running amuck in random spots in the school, leading Jack on a wild goose hunt with no means to an end that he could foresee. He was getting frustrated with the kid, wishing he could go around and stop him if only he knew what the pattern was. But he came upon a classroom, freezing up when he managed to catch up with the child and was horrified to find he looked like a young Mark getting beaten up by older elementary boys.

"Hey!" He shouted, attempting to move and soon found he wasn't able to, which incensed him. Mark was wailing in pain, each punch getting harder and him holding himself tighter into a ball, causing Jack's jaw to shake in rage. He wanted so desperately to save him, get those little shits away and stop hurting Mark. Soon enough the scene faded, making Jack realize it was just a memory. He sucked in a deep breath, calming himself by saying it was just an illusion, even if it had been real at one point. The screaming had luckily stopped, until on his right he heard more children yelling, perplexing him to prowl after.

"What are you gonna do now faggot? We saw you kiss Chance the other day, you gay piece of shit," The biggest one sneered, kicking Mark in the stomach and knocking him back into the wall.

"N-No! I was dared to…" he quivered.

"You wanted to kiss another boy, didn't you? Your dad a faggot too?"

"Don't talk about my dad like that!" Mark screamed, pushing the biggest boy away from him. This only resulted in him getting clobbered even harder than prior. The second one in the group grabbed Mark by the hair and pulled his face up, taking his glasses off and throwing them on the ground.

"Do you need these to see?" The first one taunted, lifting a foot and squishing them.

They resumed their jeering and there wasn't a damn thing Jack could do to stop them. The small brunette tried his best to hold in the tears as they deemed him not worthy to pick on at the moment anymore, cackling as they went away. It was just a memory he had to keep telling himself, not that it stopped him from feeling horrible for not being able to help at all. Soon enough this one dispersed into mist and left him alone.

Jack hadn't realized he was being followed, not initially at first. By the time he had noticed the things slinking in the dark not far off had caught up to him he wasn't prepared at all. The first one was dragging itself with its thin arms, its whole body a dark sickly green colour with a disfigured head and beady eyes, much like the first one he faced. It was smaller than the second one, but looked quicker despite it not having any legs. It's friend was giant, oozing almost purple coloured goop with every step it took and it's face, although completely blank, was just as drooped as everything else about it. They staggered toward the Irishman, causing him to be backed into a corner and frantically scoured for something to defend himself with. He managed to slip by them and stumbled into a room, spotting a sword placed on a holder. It looked like some sort fencing club room, except that the said sword wasn't a rapier. It was a katana, as predictable that might have been considering how Mariko was dressed, but the rest of the school looked like a normal american establishment. Not having any time to decide, he grabbed it and unsheathed it, feeling it pulse strangely in his hand. The two beings came crawling into the room, clicking and growling at the younger man as he waited for them to attack. As soon as he swung his weapon a glowing flash sliced through the green creature, making it shriek out in pain and limp.

"Whoa!" Jack blurted, grinning widely at the katana as it flickered a burning lime light, gripping it tightly. The boy confronted the beings, tumbling to the side as the green slug like one scratched him in the stomach. He choked a bit, but proceeded to charge at the bigger amalgamation and stabbed it in it's torso, finishing off the first of the two until both slumped to the tiles lifelessly and leaving Jack exhausted. The sword's glow diminished shortly after but the fight had drained the energy out of him. It seemed like hours before he was able to get up, albeit now weary, and treaded out of the room.

He heard soft crying in the hallway, peeking out to spot the small Mark once more with his knees to his chest and face buried in his arms. Jack slowly walked down, trying to be as quiet as he could. Stopping just at the feet of the boy, the 27 year old Irish Youtuber knelt down and offered a sympathetic smile to him, happy when he looked up with a sniffle. He blinked teary eyed in wonder, reaching a hand out to Jack who subconsciously held his out as well, the kid vanishing in a field of smoke from the contact. For some reason that made the young gamer sad, pulling himself back up. Not far off there was more grumbling crackling sounds coming from the right side, Jack heading left so to not cross paths with them. He compressed his rear side against the drywall and examined where the new creatures might be.

"Envy, self loathing, anger, hunger. These are just a few things that these wonderful minions are made of, Seonbae~"

The green haired 27 year old whipped him head to his blind side, nearly yelping when he found himself facing a wide eyed simpered Mariko, her hands behind her back as she teetered closer to him.

"Do you like them? I'm the only one of our group that can control them. I don't make them of course but they listen to me," she giggled, sounding hysterical. Jack stepped away when she advanced, pointing his weapon at her. Her grin fell and was replaced with a murderous lower, gritting her teeth.

"It's not nice to treat girls so roughly Seonbae. Why would you point a sword at a lady?!"

She lowered her head, her gaping eyes looking right through him. She lifted a hand and snapped, a trap door activated when she got him in the right spot, making him drop.

Drip drip drip.

It sounded far, like a leaking pipe which only seemed to annoy Jack to no end.

"Mm, shut it already…" he grumbled, his arms restricted above his head as he jangled them. The young Irish YouTuber was in a basement of some sort, a shrine just on the other side of him with a picture of himself in the front of it. Without his glasses he couldn't see too far ahead, but he made out a tuft of his green hair, some sort of bandaid and a rotted apple. It was dim and dank, the walls riddled with mold and ages of damp rot. He could hear the floorboards creak unevenly, dust snowing onto the ground as the came closer to where he assumed the entrance would be located. The door opened and Mariko walked down the steps, covered in blood from head to toe and smiling.

"Good morning Seonbae~" She sang, getting closer to him. Her uniform was torn up and dirty, the shirt just barely hanging off her shoulders. She stroked his cheek, sickeningly loving enough to make Jack's skin crawl with unease. He really didn't want her touching him, like at all because it made him feel intensely uncomfortable. She only oogled, letting out little creepy chuckles and muttering his name. This slag was insane.

"Why are you like that? Did you kill someone?" He dared to ask, regretting engaging in conversation with her.

"Not kill sadly, just a pesky old doctor who doesn't know when to give up. No one is going to take my Jack-seonbae away from me."

His eyes grew wide and thrashed against his binds.

"What did you do to Markus?!" He demanded. Jack might not have known the other for very long but the man had never done anything than be patient and kind to him. True he was a part of Mark which would inevitably mean they'd get along with each other but still.

"Like I said, I just played with him a little too hard. He hasn't gotten it through his thick skull that Seonbae isn't interested in guys," Mariko seethed, running a hand through her messy red hair and fixing it. Interested in guys?

"Anyway," she started, striding over to the corner leisurely, rummaging through a box. Tools fell to her feet as the girl dropped or threw them over her shoulder, letting out a small 'aha!' when she finally found what she had been searching for: a bottle. "These will help you relax while I finish preparing upstairs for you~"

The green haired Irishman didn't like the way she said that, coming back and digging out for two pills. He couldn't read what it said but he could only assume it was a drug of some sort. The psychotic young personality forcefully grabbed his head and harshly tried shoving the capsules into his mouth, growling when he locked his jaw shut.

"Take the damn PILL!"

Mariko cried out and slumped to Jack's knees, grabbing the back of her head in pain. He was relieved to see Markus, injured but alive, and rubbed his wrists once the doctor untied them. He pulled the younger away before frantically grabbing at Jack's face, checking his body for bruises or wounds. He grimaced at the claw marks on the other's abdomen but didn't say much of it.

"Thank goodness you're okay. I saw her tailing you as soon as we split up so I tracked her down and attacked her. She caught me off guard but I came as soon as I could," he explained, taking a hold of Jack's hand and dragging him away from the basement up into the actual house, shutting the door behind him. They trudged through all the items and furniture wildly spread about, jumping over a dresser that caught the Irish gamer's pant leg and made him trip into Markus, who gently helped straighten him and barreled on through. It hadn't taken long for Mariko to recover and barrage up the stairs, emanating an ungodly rumble, picking obstacles and slamming them aside. With a snap of her fingers more creatures formed in front of the two men, ambling their way to avoid the pools of reconstructing enemies and got to the main doorway. Finally the two managed to get free, but it didn't stop Mariko from catching up, a heaving mess of anger.

"YOU CAN'T HAVE SEONBAE. ONLY I CAN BE WITH HIM!" She screamed, gripping her knife tightly, intent on killing Markus no matter what it took. The amalgamations accompanied her sloppily, as if they weren't put together correctly and wobbled to attack, missing with their aim skewed.

"Ugh, you useless things!"

Taking this opportunity when she was distracted, Jack quickly found a broken pipe lying on the ground and swung it on her chest, Mariko falling on her bottom in surprise. She lunged at him and tackled him to the ground, raising the knife as she tried to cut him with the blade.

"Please Jack-seonbae, I don't wanna hurt your pretty face. You're my precious seonbae, you're mine you're mine you're mine!" She chanted maniacally, thrusting all her strength against him and manage to slash into his cheek

He saw no choice but to do it, so when the girl raised her arm to ram it down on him he shoved the bar inside her chest, piercing right through her heart. She finally lay still on top of him, her stare blank and dull now. Markus tossed her away and helped Jack up, hugging him tightly.

"I can't believe you did that.." he muttered, more out of shock than scolding. The green haired Irishman let out a breath and pulled his head to look up at the other, noticing a strange look on his face as he stared almost longingly back. His eyes were transfixed on the cut on the other's face, wiping his finger along it gently to clean up the blood before realizing what he was doing.

"Everything okay?" Jack asked, gulping nervously, wincing slightly. He wasn't used to this sort of attention, especially when he knew he wasn't, well, gay. Nothing wrong with liking guys, he was not into them however as Mariko had stated previously. But the weird spit in his chest wouldn't stop, coughing a little to ease the sudden tension. Whatever trance Markus was in he shook his head and smiled, backing away.

"It might be a good idea to head back out," he suggested, placing his hands together in front of himself neatly. Jack nodded in agreement and smiled, briefly hugging the doctor again before closing his eyes, pulling away.

He was in the hospital once more, evening still like time didn't move when he was connected to Mark's subconscious. To his solace all the monitors showed Mark wasn't in any danger, not at the moment for now at least, but it still made him feel a little more at ease. He felt so tired, fatigue sneaking its way in.

-"Hello Jack."

He jumped and looked through the dusky room, the man in the suit from before standing tall and powerful. He only smirked slightly at Jack, placing a large hand and stroking his tie to adjust it, his eyes scanning the other's entire body, critically and pleasingly. He only sauntered closer, breathing lowly as he leaned in and let a hot exhale that tickled the skin on Jack's neck, causing him to shiver. The smaller froze when wandering hands snaked their way lightly to his lower back, pushing him closer until his chest was pressed against the taller man's own. The ravenette breathed in deeply, fingers tapping his spine and running it up and down sensually. His other hand slithered down his shoulder blades and to the side to take a firm hold on his hip. The green haired Irishman felt extremely exposed, snapping to his senses and shoving the other away, hugging himself. The man chuckled as his expression grew elated, folding his hands behind him. This action made the green haired man realize this is probably the one whom he had first met upon his arrival in L.A., just by how he moved and acted. That still didn't make him feel safe, especially what just barely happened, the suited Mark acting as if he owned him.

"What the fook was that for?" Jack snapped defensively, glaring at the other with uncertainty and apprehension.

"I thought I had made that obvious. Or maybe you'd like me to do a demonstration," he purred, something really off about this man. Everything screamed 'entitlement' about him; the way he stood seemed to be as if he was making sure he over towered Jack to intimidate him, which was working accordingly. The Irishman was terrified of the dominant energy he emitted, not sure how to escape the situation. Either way, he moved backwards of him until he bumped the bed the real Mark lay comatose in. To Jack's dismay, this only made the gray-scaled Mark close the gap, trapping the younger.

"Jack, you're dreaming," Mark whispered into his ear, causing something to snap him out of it.-

Oh, that's right.

He groggily rubbed his eyes and breathed deeply to steady his pounding heart. Okay so another nightmare about that man again, he noted to himself he should probably talk to Markus about it to see if it was another personality or not. In any case, Jack stood up and checked Mark, ecstatic when he looked far better than before, his face a normal colour and breathing even. So he really was doing something to help his friend, the green haired thought thankfully.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: The Game

It was lucky of Jack to remember that Mark indeed had a goddamn living animal in his house, because otherwise Chica would have probably died from lack of social interaction more than anything else. The gamer adored the golden retriever, so it wasn't like he was reluctant to get to the house and cuddle her; she proved to be a good distresser. But sadly, he had to depart from her eventually to go check up on Mark, his heart shattering at her big brown eyes full of never ending sorrow and despair at the thought of being left alone in the house as he got into Mark's car, resisting the temptation to bring her with. Damn puppy dog stare, how could he not want to pet her and apologize dramatically for leaving her alone? Jack chuckled at himself at this thought, backing up from the brunette's gorgeous driveway and onto the road.

He soon arrived at the hospital the same time he had been during the past week, being welcomed by the front desk employee as she was starting to recognize him, and he was let in without any problems. Pretty soon here he was going to know every detail of her life if he kept having to come here, considering he was already halfway there. The Irishman walked into Mark's room and was addressed by the nurse who was assigned to attend him while still in his coma. The physician was optimistic but still apprehensive on the strange occurrence, not fully sure why Mark was stuck in this condition. If the man were to continue to not awaken within another two weeks, it could mean critical brain damage. Apparently when Jack had brought Mark to the hospital, the other's head had been injured badly, most likely from falling down or passing out somehow and landing on the back of his skull where a small gash was found. The green haired 27 year old knew he needed to act fast or else he feared he really wouldn't be able to save his friend. So as the nurse exited, he went into immediate action as he took a hold on his dear friend's hand.

As he had in the past, he arrived in the hub and was happily greeted by Markus, who was accompanied by Arthur whom looked irritated as usual, scribbling some notes in his little book.

"Sean, I'm so glad you're back," the doctor said, going over to give Jack a tight hug. He gladly returned it and looked over the man's shoulder at the other brunette, not impressed that he didn't even look at him or said hello.

"I am too. Mark still isn't waking up so I assume there's more to do."

"Yes, unfortunately a lot more I'm afraid," Markus grimaced, letting out a tired sigh. "If I had to guess which personality is preventing him from waking up, I'd say it would be Glitch."

"Glitch?" Jack asked, pulling away..

"He's dangerous, and can easily take over another person's mind. I'm not sure how he does it but I would be very careful if we plan on pursuing him, Think of him like a computer virus, since it seems that's his "theme". Very smart, and _very_ deadly,"

"He's an asshole is what he is," Arthur interjected, rolling his eyes at Markus's explanation.

"That too," the older agreed. Jack scratched his head and mentally prepared himself for what he was about to face, wondering if it was going to be anything like it was with Mariko. Now she was fucking terrifying, making him shiver and grateful she was done for.

"How do we find him?" The young gamer asked, looking between the two other men as he came to stand in the middle.

"He's usually in some dank and dark computer room, creepy bastard likes to research and probably do some really disgusting things," the younger personality grumbled, flipping some pages from the tiny notebook.

"Hey, what exactly is that?" Jack inquired, reaching over to touch it when Arthur slapped his hand.

"Don't even think about it kid. These are my notes for my book. I'm an author you see, and I have a handy little trick: anything I say happens. For example, Jacksepticeye will now shut the hell up and sit down in that chair and leave me alone."

The green haired YouTuber started to say something when he found his voice had been caught in his throat, body moving involuntarily to the office seat and plunking down with a soft thud and unable to move. The author cackled to himself which earned him a look of disapproval from Markus, shutting up and letting out an exasperated exhale.

"Please refrain from manipulating Sean like that," he warned, crossing his arms over his chest. Arthur looked unamused, glancing to Jack.

"Alright fine, ruin the fun old man. Jack can now speak and get up as he sees fit."

The Irishman glared at the younger personality, crossing his legs as he remained sitting and rolled his head to Markus.

"Anyway, again how do we find him?"

"It shouldn't be too hard honestly, he likes to analyze and learn about the things around him so it's likely he's aware of your defeat of Mariko and your exposition. I bet you he's on his way to see you. Right about now."

"That is correct, Markus Iplier."

They all averted their attention to a tall standing alter ego, glasses sharp and eyes critical as they took in as much information as they could. His hair was much longer than any of the others Jack had met, parted on the side and stubble growing on his chin. It almost looked like he had a skin tight one piece on, fashioned with a belt on his waist. Markus didn't seem perturbed by the sudden appearance of the other, shooting a feigned friendly smile at him.

"Nice of you to join us Glitch," he mused, leaning on the table. The blue clad man gave glower at him, but was more interested in his _subject_ of interest.

"Indeed. I am sure you are conscious of the fact that I am rapt about Sean McLoughlin. However I see no cause to fret, I cannot harm anyone of you while we occupy this room, as the other individuals have knowledge of this," he assured, his face expressionless as he met with Jack's skeptic gaze. Markus placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled softly, nodding only slightly to show Jack that what he was saying was true. Glitch strided in a clunky walk to the door, opening it and motioning for the others to step out into the void.

"I must ask for your time, we have unfinished business to attend to as I am certain you Sean McLoughlin are au fait about. Only he please," he threatened, making it difficult to tell what his intentions were when his face gave nothing away. Both Markus and Arthur however refused to accept his request and blocked Jack from the dangerous personality.

"Not unless we go with, you google shit," Arthur spat, a hand on his hip and casting a harsh scowl. Markus wasn't any less pleased and looked down at Glitch, his authority as the leader still ingrained into him.

"I agree. It would be better if we came with."

Growling lowly, Glitch unenthusiastically obliged and stepped out first, waiting for his associates and the Irish gamer. He didn't like being interrupted much less being told no when it came to things he was invested in, scheming a new plan as they all came out. Lifting his arms, with the flick of his wrist, they arrived in a computer room with large monitors scattered everywhere on the walls surrounding them.

"What the…" Jack whispered, gazing around in awe as he stuck close to Markus, not realizing that he was practically clinging onto the man's arm. He had seen his fair share of horror games, but nothing compared to this whole experience.

Dissolving into pixel like matter, Glitch dissipated and blinked into the screens, smiling devilishly.

"Now then," he started, the room changing and reconstructing its interior to a long hallway of doors on a story too high up in the building they were in. "Let us engage in a friendly game. A scavenger hunt if you will humour me."

His voice seemed to echo throughout the area, coming from some speakers stuck to the wall just above the three. Jack, intrigued yet unwilling, reluctantly braced himself, half wondering what this was going to be like compared to being stalked by a psychotic obsessive school girl. He really didn't want to find out in all honesty but he had no other choice.

"Oh yeah?" He challenged, stepping up and standing confidently- or as confident as he could have.

The brief small smirk that had been stitched onto Glitch's face fell at the unexpected response, _very_ interested in this subject more than he had been before. He could see the appeal in the tack and spirit in the young man, causing him to empathise with the other personalities who were positively fascinated by him. But only just.

"It pleases me to see you so enthused by my request. Let us proceed shall we?"

The main monitor he was focused on shut off, another just across the room flashing on the analytical man's profile. The two other personas made sure to stick close to the Irishman, more out of the need to protect him rather than of trepidation as he kept fading from one screen to another until it ceased altogether.

"What's the game?" The green haired lad urged on, swallowing a thick lump that had been caught in his throat.

"An object is what you must unearth, important in time long passed. 9 doorways to the mind and you will find what you seek. Retrieve it and you will live accordingly." Is all he said.

What kind of cryptic bullshit was that?

"Damn robot is always saying things like that and making everyone do puzzles," Arthur muttered, folding his arms.

Important in time long passed.. Maybe something from Mark's childhood? The gamer immediately went to action, walking to one of the many doors and finding which ones opened, having no such luck. But he prevailed when one from the middle creaked just a smidge unlatched. Once he got in he noticed it was a child's room, colouful space themed blankets on a bed tucked away near a large window, filled with toys and stuffed animals. Opposite stood another creamy white door, bursting wide open to reveal the toddler Mark waddling in as the smell of baked cookies flooded the room, the child happy when his mother cooed at him and picked him up. They looked… content? Like this was before things started plaguing the YouTuber. It soon turned sour however, flickering to a scene where Mark, not being old enough to understand, sat quietly on his bed while he heard his parents talking away, angry and screaming their lungs off at each other about getting a divorce. Of course the small brunette would have started crying albeit not understanding what they meant, still pinching at Jack's chest to see him like that. The Irishman quickly noticed drawings of a certain doctor like personality coloured and hung up above where Mark was curled up, scowling that at such a young age he had these fractions in his mind. The child couldn't see him, only being images and memories that seemed to play over and over again in Mark's mind. If this room was about that time, then was it possible that the other doors led to different events?

Jack, a little grudgingly, pulled himself away and to find out, softly shutting the entrance. He jiggled other knobs when he found out there really was a specific pattern to each. There were numbers, barely visible unless you had been searching hard, etched into the frames of the woodwork. He counted them, 8 standing in place when it clicked in his head this is what the personality meant. But where was the ninth?

The entry way he opened was empty, the exception being one of those old movie players shining on the white plastered wall that displayed Mark. Jack fully went into to watch the show, coming to a stand next to the film player and placing a hand on the cold metal. Mark was just a little older than the previous memory- maybe 4 or 5- being told by his father, who Mark looked strikingly similar to now as an adult, that the older man himself was diagnosed with cancer. Jack could only guess how this was going to go… The look on the young boy's face was pale, silent and said nothing at the news. The gamer bit his lip, only imagining what it would be like to hear that your parent was not likely to live because of a horrible disease. It ended when Mark's dad left him sitting there after having comforted him, shaking visibly and alone. Jack was at a loss for words when the machine turned off, standing in the dark aside from light that peek through the crack in the door, processing what he had seen so far. He knew he didn't have much time left before Glitch would get impatient but he couldn't bring himself to not momentarily mourn for his best friend and what he had to go through. Alone. That by itself is what bothered the 27 year old so much.

He still wasn't sure what he was supposed to be looking for, stepping out and running into Markus who was just behind him.

"Oh, sorry Mark- Markus," he stuttered, disheveled at the heavy information he had gained as he gave the other a little bit more space. Markus frowned at him, bewildered by the Irish boy's behaviour.

"What did you find?" He asked.

"Well, um, just saw some things from.. The past I guess?" The smaller tried explaining, earning a nod of acknowledgment.

"No need to explain. But we should look for that item, Glitch is very particular about time."

"Yeah I figured as much. This is so messed up dude, what the hell am I supposed to be finding? All I've seen are some sad fooked up memories," he breathed to himself more than it was a question to the doctor, rubbing one of his temples. His heart felt heavy and his mind was foggy with a jumble of thoughts that jammed their way against the walls of his brain as he contemplated what his goal was.

"I'm sorry you're having to deal with all of this stress all at once-"

"I chose to be here so I could save Mark. I'm not gonna run away," Jack interrupted, flashing a smile up at the older man. He gladly returned it and looked back to Arthur who was attempting to open doors as well. He found one and let out a small 'aha!' at his victory, wasting no time to rush in, making the green haired man curious when the author didn't come back out after a short period of time. He found him stopped in front of a desk with a singular binder, coming to view to see that it was a photo album with familiar and unfamiliar faces.

"It's Bob and Wade," Arthur murmured, the ends of his mouth tugging into a small smile. Jack was relieved to find that this was a happy memory for Mark, flipping through the pages to see young versions of said friends and recalling some great times he had with the other two men. He was aware the American had met Bob whilst in college, and Wade sometime during his high school year as well as Tyler. Each picture had sunny grins and silly shenanigans, exploring places or just being young teens. A couple of them had a girl near them, Mark's arm wrapped around her shoulders and cocking an eyebrow at her fake expression. But not all the things Mark kept close to him were sad, which was a big comfort on Jack's part.

In the middle of the book, lay a little golden key, slipping out and onto the desk with a soft clunk. The small european picked it up and examined it, a '4' encrusted on it.

"Tick tock tick tock." The speakers blasted out, Glitch's mechanical voice reverberating off the hallway. The small Irishman rolled his eyes as he backed out, looking for the number 4 door. He felt like that were getting closer at least, stopping when he was in another bedroom. Only it looked more like a Uni dorm, similar to his own.

"Hey Bob what did you get on that exam?"

Jack was slightly startled by a young adult Mark Fischback who strutted in and plopped himself unceremoniously on his desk chair.

"A 83% I think? It was pretty hard," a voice responded, Bob stepping out of the bathroom in his pajamas. Mark inhaled and chuckled.

"Yeah it was, and the teacher isn't the best.." he trailed off, seemingly trying to be polite about his dislike for their professor.

"Yeah, she's a royal pain. Did you you see her rip a new one on Tyler? Yeesh, poor guy."

"Well regardless, I'm going to study hard so I can graduate and become an engineer," Mark replied, a finality in his tone like he wasn't sure before.

The continued to banter off each other about the struggles of school and the tests, making Jack laugh. He then spotted a little tiny box on Mark's desk, a lock attached to the front of it. He snatched it up in the middle of the memory and it faded as soon as he did, clutching to the object. Out of curiosity, he shook the box to see if anything was in there and shrugged when nothing jangled inside. He took one last look around just in case and proceeded to the next door.

Either he hadn't noticed it before or it appeared suddenly, but there was a window that peered into a hospital room, three people surrounding a body in the bed. It wasn't Mark on it for he was the one closest to the person, his face red and swollen with tears. A man with bleached blonde hair laid there, hooked up to the machines around him. An oxygen tank presented itself next to him, pumping in air so to help him breath while the heart monitor beat unevenly. The Irish video maker recognized them to be friends Mark had been living with a few years ago, Matt, Ryan and… Oh god, that was Dan. Cyndago was a small but funny channel that never got the chance to be big due to an unfortunate event. September 18th 2015 was when the co-creator died, and it left a huge hole in Mark's heart. Jack had spent endless nights talking and comforting his best friend after it happened, progress and recovery being made as much as it could have. Of course this would be a major memory in Mark's head, the loss of a dear friend. He hated seeing how hard the American gamer was sobbing, tightly gripping onto Daniel's hand as if his own life depended on it. This was too much to see right now, so Jack leaned against the wall and took deep breaths, in out, in out. The more he saw these images the harder it became, determined however to push forth. He heard banging on a frame at the end of the hall coming from one of the doors, investigating it.

There voices on the other side of it, but the doorknob wouldn't turn. He noticed a large keyhole with light spilling out of it, crouching down and closing an eye to look through it. It was Mark, about the same age as before in the dorm, looking distressed. The woman he didn't recognize in the pictures had one of her hands on her hip, eyebrows furrowed and gesturing wildly with the other one. Jack couldn't make out exactly what they were talking about, but judging from what he was watching it sounded like she was arguing with him about an important topic. The brunette kept rubbing his head and pacing, nervous as he shot back at her. He changed his whole demeanor, a defensive stance and got right into her face, yelling. Everything was completely different from the usual Mark, and if Jack had to guess it was Arthur in control at that moment. She looked crossed, shoving her face in closer to scream back louder and pushing him away. He slammed his fist on the wall near their heads, seething and panting hard. She stood quietly, retorting something that made the man's face fall, returning back to himself and slumped slightly at her green haired YouTuber's eyes widened when the woman came closer to the door, grabbing the handle but stopping before she could open it, off to the side enough for Jack to still be able to see Mark who was begging at her. With his knees propped up ready to move out of the way, Jack held in a breath as the girl just laughed her boyfriend, curt and full of anger and let go of the knob to saunter back, talking down on him. The young gamer couldn't help the tightening of his jaw, shooting up and practically ripping the door out of the latch. Of course, it was empty with the others gone.

"Oh lord jesus…" he snarled, slamming it shut and abandoning it. His head felt like it was swimming, shaking off the pit in his stomach at the very thought of that _bitch_ being so cruel to someone like Mark.

"Are you okay?" Markus chimed in, placing a hand on his upper back. The younger nodded and let out air through his lips, down casting his gaze.

"Yeah…" he replied, not looking at the doctor. He found himself being tugged in the direction of the main room, the computerized personality being displayed as he looked slightly annoyed.

"I feel as if you aren't using your full potential. I had previously thought you were far more ambitious on assisting the host but it appears your primary objective has gone askew. As a challenging factor I will add a time limit before you are all crushed," he explained, a timer for 10 minutes setting off on the screen next to his. Underneath him a tall figure formed, snafu and twitching: It was another one of the enemies. Jack internally groaned at the sight of him and frantically scrutinized the are for a weapon to defend himself with. "And I will readily prepare the virus malware to activate."

"Gee, thanks," Jack stated sarcastically, creeping away to grab a gun he noticed strewed about on a table. Glitch briskly observed his intentions and motioned for the amalgamation to go forward, its eyes beaming a red glare and made its way to the Irishman. It was giant, much taller than Jack had seen prior compared to the other monsters, a dusty blue shade and a wide mouth on its head. It opened it slightly, huge teeth dripping with a black sustenance. The thing looked reptilian, hard metallic scales bristled on its back and face, and thick arms with large claws shimmering at the end of them. Jack dived for the pistol, snatching it and pulling the trigger. Appropriately, it didn't shoot a bullet but a ball of concentrated green light, hitting the creature right smack dab in the face and causing it to cry out. Markus and Arthur sprinted into action, attacking the monster, giving Jack an opening to finish finding what he was supposed to so they could complete Glitch's stupid game. Tumbling into the 6th room, he came upon yet another bedroom with a computer sitting on a table, YouTube being pulled up. He clicked on the video and smiled when the low quality Mark's face popped up, nervous but brightly grinning at the camera.

"Hello everybody, my name is Marikplier and welcome to.."

There was a list next to the keyboard, goals seemingly and ideas for videos. It was the very first time Mark had started his YouTube, the Irish 27 year old realized. This was a time that the other gamer was depressed especially, in a lot of debt with student loans and living with his mother in Cincinnati Ohio.

There was another tab up on the taskbar, selecting it and his heart hitched in his throat. A feeling of fondness overcame him as he watched when he and Mark had met for the first time, both embarrassed and not knowing how to interact, at first anyway. They had talked before on the internet but it was much different in person, at a convention no less. But he saw the way Mark looked down at him, laughing and politely jabbing jokes with his past self. This made Jack's chest flutter a little, almost forgetting that his companions were outside fighting a creature. On the desk lay something shiny, instinctively making Jack pick it up as his eyes widened. Now, this had been many years ago, but as a birthday present to Mark he had given him a ring. A simple silver on with Scots Gaelic writing carved in reading 'Lean do chridhe' meaning: Follow Your Heart. It had meant a lot to Mark at the time, despite not being someone who wore jewelry that often, and often kept it close to him. The fact that it was here was a wonder for Jack, but he headed out anyway, passing Markus and Arthur who called out his name, and holding the article above his head to showcase the ring to Glitch.

"Is this the bloody fookin thing you were askin me to find?!"

Glitch scanned him and smirked ever so slightly, the enemy stopping in its tracks.

"Excellent. You have proven to be more intelligent and worthy than I initially thought."

The apathetic alter ego appeared behind Jack, attempting to grab the little piece of metal forcefully from the Irishman, straight faced and razor sharp focus on it as the younger man ducked away. He didn't seem fazed or frustrated whatsoever at the resistance, trying harder each time he failed which was increasingly difficult for the other to keep up with. Finally as if he had enough, the robotic man stood tall and stared at Jack, picking him off the ground without even having to lift a finger. The others were still fighting the amalgamation, not having detected that Jack was in trouble.

"You are only making this arduous for yourself. Surrender now and your death shall be painless," he said plainly, dawdling to the gamer. Once he got close enough, Glitch reached for the ring, gasping when Jack swiped off his glasses as an endeavour to slow and blind him down, falling to the ground flat on his ass.

"Son of a-"

He hissed in pain and rolled away, standing back up as he rubbed his bottom. The frame of the spectacles were bent, seeing Glitch grab his own head from the corner of his eye and standing there awestruck.

"Y-You shouldn't have-have-have done that Sean McLou-McLoughlin."

He was twitching and his speech kept cutting off and repeating, spinning around and bolting right at Jack. This caught him off and luckily was able to dodge him, but ended up throwing the glasses in the air and watching them hit the ground hard. It cracked one of the lenses, Glitch's face masking a replication of it and growled, latching his hands onto Jack's throat and squeezing tightly.

"It app-ppears that I-I-I-I have no choice but to end-end it here."

The other personalities were on his ass, attacking their mindmate and violently assaying him off. Jack turned his head desperately to see the item Glitch was so bent on getting and shot it with his firearm. The glass shattered, the virus like personality cursing him before exploding, sending the other two flying in the air. Jack covered his head, staying like that for a solid few minutes before peeking to see the rumbles or wiring that had once been Glitch.

"Suck on that, you awful foockin' gobshite!" He exclaimed, slowly getting back up.

"Are you okay Sean?"

"Stop babying him, he's obviously alive!"

The two men shot glares at each other, Jack bursting out laughing.

"Holy shite I thought I was a goner there," he huffed out between laughs, clutching his stomach in relief. Once he was finished with his little fit, he straightened himself and smiled at his friends. Friends… that was a good word for them.

They all heard footsteps echo behind Markus and Arthur, a snap that made them be engulfed in darkness as the suited man he had seen in his dreams appeared before him, suave and staring at Jack with half lidded eyes.

"Did you miss me?" He asked, flickering behind the european man and grabbing ahold of his hips, whispering. "I missed you _very_ much."

He yanked himself away to face the grey man, confused as that familiar uncomfortable feeling creept up his back.

"I've been waiting a long time to see you again," he confessed, his tone convincingly genuine as he took a step closer.

"You're that guy I've been dreaming about.." the younger man muttered, gulping thickly.

"Dreaming of me are we? I'm flattered you think so highly of me even though we've only met _once_ ," he smirked, licking his bottom lip in thought as he just eyed the smaller YouTuber. Jack grimaced at his expression and closed himself up, eyes flickering away nervously so not to meet his intense gaze.

"Don't be afraid Jack, I'm not here to hurt you; quite the opposite in fact. I, like you and the others, want to help Mark recover," the altered version of Mark explained, giving him a set expression as he carefully came to Jack, holding out his hand. Now this was different then what he had experienced with him before, then again they were just dreams. He acted much like the original Mark he l- was so attached to, mentally willing to at least give him a chance and hesitantly took the man's hand. Jack's cheeks tinted slightly when the suited Mark brought the back of the Irishman's hand to his lips, placing a peck on it.

"I am called Dark," the ravenette introduced, looking at his companion with a heated leer. Despite him being a gentleman, something was just wrong about this man that Jack couldn't shake off. He could see the uncertainty in his little beloved's face, chuckling and acting friendly.

"There's nothing to be afraid of, my love," Dark soothed, making the green haired man delightfully freeze at the pet name, mixed emotions on his face. He took both smaller hands into his and the background changed, piano music softly playing which made Dark sway side to side, wrapping an arm around Jack's now suited up waist. Jack himself looked surprised at the attire, jutting his head back up at Dark skeptically. He was at a loss for words, the lights around them dim and setting a romantic vibe.

"I've resided inside Mark's mind for a very many years…" the older man started, a sullen intonation on his face. "I've been pushed aside, replaced, _mocked_."

It was working, pulling at the heartstrings of the gullible Irish 27 year old; the fact that he looked exactly like Mark not helping.

"And then they have the gall to not invite me to their little adventure with you, Markus and Arthur."

He really appeared to be hurt by this, Jack shyly putting a hand to Dark's cheek as a way to console the personality. Just as Dark knew he was winning him over, he placed his hand on top and smiled. "No more."

The raventte started dancing slowly with the younger man, resting his head against Jack's and casting them in a comfortable silence.

"You're still not sure about me are you?" He asked softly.

"Well, the dreams I had about you were very different so I'm not sure…" Jack admitted, his chest pounding at the closeness between them.

"What can I do to change that then? If dinner is what you want then I can provide."

With a snap of his fingers the air around them smelled of roasted chicken, candle smoke dancing around a dark red clothed table with beautiful fine china laid out on the top. White flowers were sported from a intricate golden rimmed vase, contrasting with the colour scheme of the rest of the dining table. Dark spun Jack around and brought him even closer than before, flush against the green haired man and stroking his lower back sensually as he did before. He transformed himself into colour, perplexing the Irishman when Mark appeared all of a sudden

"I can take you to the places you want to go," he lustfully whispered, his breath mingling with Jack's, purring when it seemed like the smaller had been seduced, hanging off his every word. "I can especially take you to the places you _don't_ want to go," Mark, or should he say Dark, finished in between hot kisses trailing along Jack's neck. Something animalistic grumbled inside him when Jack accidentally slipped out a small moan, lighting dragging his nails down his shoulders.

"It's exciting isn't it? The endless possibilities~"

Hook line and sink.

He felt like he was in a trance, his whole body hot and distracting him from the wrenching gut feeling in him. Jack was blinded by the voluptuous things Mark were saying to him, ignoring the confusion regarding his sexuality at the moment. He wasn't sure how or why but he needed some sort of _release_ from this obnoxious feeling, the alter ego having been the cause. Well, it was Dark that was making him feel like this, not that he was fully aware of that.

The were interrupted however when distant shouting occurred, almost recognizable to Jack. Who was that? Mark was already here with him, so why was it his voice calling out for him?

"-ack!"

It started to come closer, stopping Dark in his tracks before he was able to advance any further on his little pet.

"Jack don't listen to him!"

He was brought back to reality, struggling out of Dark's grip and tripping backwards as Markus and Arthur broke through the illusion. Dark changed himself back to his grey skinned self and snarled, livid that his plans had be thwarted. But he still had time to manipulate him, toy with Jack's heart for it was frail due to one weakness.

"Keep killing off these little pawns of mine, my love. You're doing a wonderful job," Dark encouraged slyly, shrouding himself in black and fading into the ground, bringing them back to the computer room.

"Holy shit you just met Dark," Arthur said, slack jawed and surprised.

"Did he.. Do anything to you?" Markus asked, his voice laced with disdain.

"I'm um, no?" Jack answered sheepishly, coughing into his hand and looking away. He didn't want to admit that he might have subconsciously liked it, disgust resting in his chest that Dark had been _trying_ to seduce him to to god know what.

"Anyway, I should check on Mark."

"Good idea. We'll be waiting here for your return."

With one last goodbye, Jack was shot back into his own body, gasping a bit at the impact.

"Mm… Jack?"

He felt like he was going to cry at the voice he had been waiting to hear this whole time. All his effort wasn't in vain when his icy blue eyes met with tired but kind brown ones, the real ones.

"You're awake!" Jack exclaimed, tackling Mark and wrapping his arms around him.

"Whoa- uh hello. Um, what's going on?" Mark asked, his voice raspy and exhausted.

"Man I've miss you buddy. Well, I came over and found ya bleedin half to death so I took you to the hospital. You hadn't woken up for a week which scared the living jesus out of me. I'm just so fookin happy you're not dead," he blurted, talking almost too fast for the American to comprehend as he petted Jack's green hair.

"Sorry…" he apologized, closing his eyes.

He was okay.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: The Realization

"So…um.. I don't know where to start but.. I guess, why? Why.. did you hurt yourself?" The young man asked quietly with a bit of hesitance, leaning back into the cushioned chair he remained sitting in and bouncing his leg. A nervous habit he among many other people did, but the burning question was so etched in his mind, afraid of what the answer might of been.

"That's… kind of a hard thing to answer…" The other trailed off, gulping thickly as he closed his eyes to recall the memory. The first one nodded, pursing his lips slightly and exhaled lightly. If course it was insensitive of him to ask something like that, he should have been more careful with his words.

"It's okay Jack.. It's just, well, not really something I want to talk about. Right now anyway," he weakly explained, gesturing to himself in the hospital bed as a joke to try and lift the mood a little. Jack smiled slightly and downcasted his gaze, brooding a little when he felt a large comforting hand on his shoulder. "I promise I _will_ talk about it though, just... not right this second. Okay?"

"Okay, sorry I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright, don't sweat it. I probably would've asked the same thing if it were you in my position. I really appreciate you coming out just to see me."

Jack couldn't help the blush from creeping up his neck as he rubbed the back of it, sheepishly smiling at his best friend.

"Well of course, I couldn't just leave you there. You could have died, man," the green haired Irishman laughed.

"Not the first time," Mark interjected with a chuckle, remarking upon when he had gone to hospital, _twice_ , due to a tumour in him. The two friends laughed and sat comfortably, Jack finally feeling relaxed for once through this whole journey.

"You're really lucky to have Markus and Arthur," he stated, crossing his legs in his lap. Mark however cocked his eyebrow at him, confused at the comment.

"Who?" The brunette inquired.

This made the Irishman's grin drop instantly, horrified as he realized it was possible that Mark really didn't know there were personalities inside his head. How could he not have though? They were clear as day from what he had seen, was almost killed twice within the span of a week. Although Jack likely wouldn't have _actually_ died he still felt like it was a possibility in a crazy situation like that.

"Uh, nevermind dude, just spouting nonsense," he quickly covered up, laughing to add. Mark tried to shrug nonchalantly and heckled a little, sort of nervously and happy for the change of subject. That was close..

"How long am I due for?"

"Well, the nurse told me since you're in stable condition you can be released within the next few days. I think they wanna run some tests on you or some shit," the younger replied, standing up and checking the clipboard that lay in the holster at the foot of his bed. After scanning it he put it back as he deemed it worthy enough.

"Since when do you know how to check conditional things with my health?" The older man teased, giving a warm smile.

"Well I wanted to know as much as possible how to help you while you were in your coma so I asked a nurse to teach me. It's not a big deal, I just didn't want to be useless," Jack shrugged, his cheeks hot from embarrassment. Mark looked slightly taken back, breaking out into a soft chuckle and humming.

"Thank you, that really means a lot to me. Really Jack."

The green haired 27 year old held on tightly around the waist of his friend and placed a hand on the other's chest as they got up the stairs in the large house, Chica wagging her tail wildly and happily after the two men.

"It's fine Jack, I can walk you know," Mark laughed, finding it cute how much the European was being fussy and worrying about him.

"You've been in a coma for a fookin week, your legs are all like jelly right now and I don't wanna have to go back to the hospital because you fell down a flight of stairs," he argued, getting to the top finally and leading the taller man to his room. After laying Mark down on the sheets the Irishman left the room for a moment, coming back with a glass of water and his friend's glasses.

"Thank you for taking care of Chica by the way," the brunette smiled, making something in Jack tingle slightly, coughing to cover up the redness of his cheeks.

"Uh yeah! Of course man, you'd do that same, if I had a dog.."

"I would, but it's very sweet of you. She gets lonely pretty easily," he replied absentmindedly, patting the bed for the golden retriever. The gleeful dog jumped on and circling few times before resting against her owner, panting softly with a wide grin. He softly pet her head, scratching behind her ears as he looked back to the smaller male.

"Like I said, i-it's nothing."

What was he getting all flustered for, it was just a remark of appreciation from his friend, it would be common courtesy. Oh but he felt like he couldn't help it, with the way the other was being so sweet and kind like he always was. That was just him in nature, and that was something Jack found very endearing about the other. Seeing him so calm and tired made the green haired gamer worried, but also finding it kind of..

Cute? In a friendly way of course.

...Yeah right.

"I'm so fucking tired," Mark chuckled, bringing Jack out of his embarrassing stream of thoughts and back to the half Korean.

"You could sleep I guess, but you've been doing that a lot."

"I know, that's why I think it's ridiculous that I'm so exhausted. I need to get up and do something before I pass out," he started, attempting to get up before the smaller male rushed to his side and rested his hands on Mark's shoulders, pushing him down gently.

"No no, if you're tired then by all means please rest," Jack protested, his hands still on the brunette as he looked at him worriedly. The American gulped thickly at how close they were, making Jack's face flush bright pink as he realized as well, yet for some reason not wanting to move.

"You should… rest…" Jack trailed off, staring into his friend's soft brown orbs as if in a trance, leaning in without knowing. He felt a hesitant hand on his waist, not quite holding onto him as Mark's eyes flickered between the green haired YouTuber's bright blue irises and down to his lips. His heart was speeding a million miles per second and the immense warmth coming from the older man made Jack's head spin. The younger could feel their breaths mingle as he got even closer, just moments away from finding out where this was going to lead. It felt like time was slowing down, watching as Mark was meeting him halfway and closing his own eyes. The green haired man however snapped out of it and gasped slightly before they could connect, yanking his whole body back like he had been burned.

"I-I, uh, um, sorry, I gotta use the toilet,' Jack lied, running out of the room as fast as he could and locking himself up in the bathroom. He slid against the door and brought his legs to his chest, wrapping thin pale arms around them. What the hell was that? What was he thinking, trying to k...ki…

"Fookin hell," he hissed out, running a hand through his green hair and shutting his eyes tightly. This obnoxious blush wasn't going away anytime soon, and he just wanted to stop his chest from pounding. He had never in all his years of knowing Mark wanted to try and do something that embarrassing with him, so why now? Sure he had been noticing something was going on with him, especially after having met some of the personalities. Not to mention that moment he had with Dark where he made himself look like the glasses clad brunette and it felt like for a second Mark was the one saying and doing all those strange things to him...

He didn't have the answers, nor did he feel like finding out in this moment, but he reluctantly got back up and headed out after a few minutes of freaking out. He carefully treaded back to the other's room, relieved when he found him sleeping peacefully with Chica resting her head on his torso. Jack went to grab the empty water glass when his wrist had been caught, tenderly, making the small Irishman flinch.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you Jacky," said Mark, or at least it sounded like him. The American sat up with a wide dopey grin, crossing his legs and beaming up at the smaller male. Well this certainly wasn't Mark, not that he wasn't happy or anything just not _this_ cheerful.

"Are you.. Another personality?" Jack asked, hoping it was and not making a fool of himself.

"You got it! We've briefly met before, but I'm Silver. It's so nice to finally talk to you," he chirped, holding out a hand for the green haired gamer, his happy expression never wavering.

Jack smiled kindly and shook his hand, bringing it to his side as he sat down next to Silver.

"It's so weird seeing you guys in real life instead of inside Mark's head," he commented, folding his fingers together in his lap.

"Yeah I guess it would be. Usually we come out when Mark is asleep, like just now. We even sometimes come out during his videos, mostly me and Markus though. Arthur is always writing and too busy to bother, and the rest are kinda crazy. Well, I guess two of them are kinda gone now aren't they? I'm sure Mark doesn't know about that yet actually, he must feel it though-"

"Wait, Mark knows about you guys?!" Jack exclaimed, eyes widened.

"Yeah, well kinda. He knows we exist but he's in denial of it. Kinda hurts, but no matter!" Silver clapped his hands together with a small laugh, happy as a clam.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. When I tried talking to him a little about it and he was acting like he didn't know what the fook I was talking about."

"Yeah, he's very scared of us. And I'm no psychiatrist or anything but he's probably worried he's crazy or something. But we're here so there's nothing that we can do about it yet. You helping him is making him improve though so that's good!"

The small Irishman was happy to hear that, making his smile grow warmer. Though, there was something he didn't quite understand despite having it explained to him by Arthur.

"So, I know I kinda have the gist of it, but _why_ can I interact with Mark's subconscience? That's like some sci-fi bullshite right there," he asked, puffing out a breath from his cheeks. Silver hummed in thought for a second and snapped his fingers together like he got an idea.

"It's because you're emotionally connected to him. Love can do that."

"Love?" The Irishman sputtered, swallowing a lum in his throat.

"You're in love with him aren't you?" Silver's eyebrows raised at the question, tilting his head in an innocent kind of way, which looked very adorable on Mark's body.

"N-No… At least, I'm pretty sure, not _that_ way," he replied, biting his bottom lip wolfishly.

"Oh, then you better tell Mark that."

"What?"

"Nothin nothing, just make sure you know before things get ugly," the older man creased his brows in concern, his smile becoming more sad. Jack nodded and downcasted his gaze, his fingers tightening together in a distressed grip. This was going a little too fast for him to really be sure, not that he personally thought there was something romantic going on towards his friend and himself, aside from the obvious.. This past week had been wildly puzzling for him and Jack didn't know how he had kept his head on his shoulders throughout it.

"I just don't know, I haven't really thought about it… besides, I'm not gay," he felt it necessary to add that, as if it would help anything.

"Doesn't matter what gender you prefer when you're in love Jacky! You just like who you like, right Chica Pica?" The other giggled, falling back and laying on the now woken up Chica's back, nuzzling his face into her fur. She licked his face in response, making Jack snort faintly.

"I mean, of course but.. Agh can we not do this right now?" The European groaned, standing up and roughly ruffling up his hair.

"Sorry, I get it," Silver replied, his grin ever so sunny and happy up at Jack.

"Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you. Lately I've been having sort of.. Nightmares? About someone I met, in there," he started, pointing to Mark's head. "I think he said his name was Dark?"

Silver's face went pale, sitting up and and gaped a bit.

"You've had nightmares about him? Oh dear. Before or after you met him?"

"Before, in the hospital-"

They both froze when the front doorbell rang, echoing through the house. Jack held up a finger indicating he would be a minute before heading down the steps and stopping in front of the entrance, opening it to find two familiar faces at the foot of the door.

"Oh, hey Jack! Mark didn't tell us you were going to visit," the smaller one smiled, scratching his dyed blue hair. The much much taller one however gave a suspicious look.

"Yeah, guess it was a little short notice?"

"It was, sorry, but how are you guys?!" Jack exclaimed, walking over to give them both a hug. Ethan and Tyler both happily reciprocated albeit flummoxed.

"Pretty good, we hadn't seen Mark in like, a week so we came to check on him the lil rascal," Ethan responded, giving the curled lipped smile he usually gave whenever he found something funny.

"That's really sweet of you guys. Well he's fine, upstairs sleeping right now."

"Oh hey guys, thanks for stopping by!" Silver greeted out of nowhere, wrapping an arm around Jack's shoulders.

"Or not I guess."

"Mark, there you are!" The slim 20 year old shouted, walking in and hanging himself on the brunette. Silver picked him in a big bear hug and set him down, surprising both of the other men.

"You're in a good mood today," Tyler quirked his lips, picking up that something wasn't right. Ethan didn't seem to notice and continue to smile at him.

"Come in guys, don't just stand there!"

The others did as was invited to them and settled in the living room, Ethan and Tyler on one couch and Jack and Silver on the other across from them.

"So, what ideas did you have for a video?" The huge man asked, crossing his arms to his chest. Silver glanced at Jack panicked, laughing a little.

"Uh, video ideas?" He asked, his voice becoming quiet.

"Remember? Last week you texted me about wanting to shoot a skit today since you told us you were going on a break. I guess it was to have Jack come over, but it would be good to post something before your channel goes away," Tyler teased, smirking a bit and expecting a dramatic reaction. When he didn't get one, the Irishman could tell he knew something was up. Of course he would know, like Bob and Wade, Tyler knew Mark better than anyone else. The brunette just laughed, terrible at acting like he had just recalled.

"Oh oh, right! Sorry, I've um, been kinda sick lately?" Silver explained, sounding more like a question than a statement. "And so I guess I've been too busy recovering and having Jacky over here visit me so it slipped my mind!"

The smaller blue haired boy nodded comprehensively, not picking up why his taller companion was wigged out. Jack was feeling just as anxious as Silver, hoping they wouldn't somehow find out the truth; not that they were super likely to get it exactly right anyway. But it was still very nerve wracking trying to come up with excuses to try and thwart them off of reservation.

"So guys, Mark is still very sick, and I don't want you to catch his cold so it would probably be best to leave," the European stood up, offering a open armed embrace farewell, hoping he hadn't sounded too rude. Fortunately they got the message and decided to take his advice, coming over to say their goodbyes to Jack and Silver, leading them to the door.

"You make sure you don't get sick either Jack, call me later, okay Mark?" Tyler said with finality

"It was super short but it was nice to see you again Jack! Let's try and hang out while you're here okay?" Ethan suggested sweetly, waving while he and the muscular brunette left. Jack closed the door and leaned on it, sighing out.

"That was close, Tyler's a perseptive son of a bitch."

The smaller brought the personality back upstairs to the bedroom, turning to him as he closed the door behind him.

"Would it be alright if you brought Mark back?" He asked.

"Of course! It was nice to actually talk to you, I'll see you later okay?" Silver cheerfully said, pulling Jack in for a tight squeeze, limping and pushing his weight onto the smaller a moment later, groaning. Mark pulled his head back and groggily blinked at a shy green haired man under him.

"Jack?" He slurred, puzzled on how he had gotten into this position. Jack hid his face away self consciously, hating the way he got whenever he was near the other, shaky hands on his chest to try and hold the American gamer's weight. Unexpectedly, Mark slid his arms around the smaller man and nuzzled his face into his neck, mumbling incoherent ramblings on how tired he was and holding him closely. The 27 year old could heart how fast his friend's heart was thumping, matching his own stupid one that wouldn't seem the fucking quit this bullshit. Somehow the Irishman had managed to get Mark back onto the bed while being clung to, yelping as he collapsed on top of the other. He looked at the brunette's beefy biceps clasped around his abdomen, not unhinging any time soon. Jack puffed out a defeated exhale and decided to make himself comfortable, rubbing at his hot face. Stupid sleepy, cute Mark…

Well, it wouldn't hurt to comfort him like this right? Just friendly cuddling is all it was.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: The Conflict

- _He grabbed the bed sheets with a gasp, throwing his head back as he let out a elongated moan that seemed to slip through his lips like a perfect musical note. The larger frame above him pressed into his chest, the smaller's hands trailing up the other man's muscular arms and dragging his nails all the way down his back._

" _Does this feel good baby?" The older man whispered, his voice deep and husky in a way Jack had never heard him talk in. It sent shivers up his spine, goosebumps prickling on his smooth pale skin as big strong hands held his waist in a firm grip, pleasure shooting through the Irishman when his lover jerked his hips into him. He couldn't help the groan that pushed out, squeezing his eyes shut. Jack grabbed on for dear life, shyly moving his pelvis in the same rhythm as the American, locking his slim fingers in the man's brown locks. He felt so good, so damn amazing. He'd never acted like this before, out of control and completely at the whim of another person, much less another man. But he felt as if this man where the only one he'd let his guard down around, no one else. The small 27 year old opened his glazed over eyes up and locked his gaze with loving and kind dark brown ones, his heart pounding faster than it had before. The tan man smiled at him and leaned in, teasing and nipping little bites along the younger man's throat, making his way to his lips before passionately kissing him, electricity coursing through them._

 _Holding Jack's wrist with one hand above the Irishman's head, the other hooked a finger on the hem of his boxers, pulling them down the younger man's thin thighs and off to the ground, exposing him and allowing himself to take a good look at his small love. Then he slid his own just far enough down for his hard on to spring free, relieving some of the strain he had been in. Jack's blue eyed stare grew wide, gulping thickly at the thought of having_ _ **him**_ _inside him. His head swam with arousal at the erotic behaviour the brunette displayed, biting his lip in anticipation. The larger man gently stroked the European, watching how the young man under him squirmed and twitched._

" _Say my name, Jack."_

" _M-Mark~"_ -

Jack's eyes shot open, chest pounding and his body _hot_. He didn't want to move from the warmth he was blanketed in though, burying his face into the cushion beneath him with a shaky sigh after realizing it had just been a stupid dream. He found that he had a problem resulting from the dream, more like _nightmare_ , and panicked momentarily.

"Please, not while I'm on top of Mark.." he muttered, adjusting himself slightly so he wouldn't bother the sleeping American; he didn't think he would live through explaining why Jack was currently pitching a tent in his trousers, especially when it was because of the YouTuber himself. Which brought back memories of yesterday, making Jack pinch the bridge of his nose as he recalled his feelings and actions.

He turned his head to look at the clock, frowning when it said in big red numbers '3:47 AM'. It was way too early to be contemplating trivial things like possible temporary attraction for Mark and dreaming of shagging him. Think of something disgusting, he told himself; grandma in a bikini, pimple popping, dogs eating their own- there we go. The European began to close his eyes again, lulling back to his light slumber.

A soft voice was tugging at him while he slept however, causing his eyes to flicker open, He was comfortable to say the least, in extreme bliss on top of whatever he had decided to rest his head on last night. Whatever the thing was, he made no intention to leave from it.

"Come on, wake up please this is embarrassing as all hell…"

With a grumpy grumble, the green haired Irishman lifted his head to look at Mark, finding that it wasn't him at all. Physically of course, but he guessed it must have been Arthur judging from the comment.

"Let me sleep…" he whined, letting himself fall back down and start to doze off again when Arthur got up abruptly, standing on the side of the bed with his arms crossed.

"Why were you cuddled up next to Mark all night anyway? I thought you didn't like him like that," the brunette pointed out, watching as Jack sit up and rubbed his eyes in a child like way, making Arthur look away.

"Dude, shut the fook up and let me rest for a little bit more.. He just kinda wouldn't let go of me so I didn't care enough to wake him up.." he yawned, swinging his legs to the edge of the bed, blinking rapidly to try and wake himself up. Jack remembered waking up earlier that morning with a certain dilemma, face flushing and clearing his throat.

"Whatever, that's not important. Get back and help Mark," Arthur demanded, Jack staring at him irritated.

"Stop being a dick dude, I'll help him just chill the hell out, let me wake up a little bit first," the Irishman retorted, getting up and wobbling a bit before regaining his balance. The older man huffed out in agitation, tapping his foot impatiently. Jack rolled his eyes and decided to get dressed, not that it would matter much, and stripped himself in the room in front of his suitcase. Arthur looked away in embarrassment and cleared his throat, glaring a hole into the ground.

"Do you _have_ to do that in front of me?" He mumbled, shielding Jack's body from his field of vision.

"Dude it's not like I'm some chick. Are you always this rude?"

"Ha, as if you didn't already know what I'm like. Get used to it, princess," the author snarled, yet still looking embarrassed for some ridiculous reason. Jack didn't know how he had gotten along with him last he saw the personality. Then again Markus was there so it was likely thanks to the doctor that this asshole was kept in check.

"Well then, fook you too man."

Once he was done, the taller let out an exasperated breath and let his hand fall to his side.

"Finally. You sure take as long to get dressed as a chick. Anyway, come on."

Arthur plopped himself right back on the bed and laid down, waiting for Jack to come over and do his part, the smaller male shaking his head as he came over and sat next to where Arthur lay, taking his hand.

"W-What do you need to be holding my hand for?" He stammered, glaring at the Irishman.

"Technically it's Mark's hand, and I usually do it to help me connect. Are you going to let me do it or what?" Jack snapped, pursing his lips into a strained smile and face hot from embarrassment. This guy really made him feel like punching him, not that he would because at the moment he was in Mark's body, and he wasn't about to aim his anger at his friend for having a shitty personality. Jack was in conflict, whether he felt like dying of shame for this morning or socking the lights out of this douche. Luckily the brunette shut up and closed his eyes, the younger doing the same.

He felt a tap on his shoulder before opening his eyes, flinching at the brightness of the lights in the hub, noticing for some odd reason there were significantly less chairs than before.

"I'm so glad you're here Jacky!"

Jack turned his head to the voice and smiled, pleased to see the silver eyed man. His hair looked more gray than it had before, which made him curious but he wasn't up to dwelling on it when there were more important things to be dealt with.

"Howya Silver, it seems way emptier than before," he commented, his eyes meeting the happy personality. One thing he also had never noticed about him was the sort of superhero suit he was sported in, black cape and the light gray one piece.

"Yeah, this place changes a lot. Not sure why though!" The other responded, lost in thought on what Jack had just said.

"Is it just you and me today then?"

"As far as I can tell, I have no idea where the others are," Silver laughed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Jack had just been talking to Arthur not 5 minutes ago, but in any case the Irishman didn't feel like talking to him right now. Most encounters he had experienced with the alter ego were quite unpleasant, aside from the one moment he found him reminiscing whilst looking through the photo book of Mark's friends.

"That's fine. So who do we need to face this time?"

He wanted to get right to the point, finding it pointless to walk around the problem when he knew his objective to this whole endeavour.

"Our villain for this next showing will be none other than the strange and mysterious Wilford Warfstache!"

"Warfstache? Isn't that the reporter character Mark came up with the pink mustache though?"

"Yeah, well sorta. He's one of the personas in here so it's possible he thought he came up with him," the taller man shrugged, just grinning away before standing next to Jack and taking his hands. "We should get going on our adventure and catch this man! It'll be The Silver Shepherd and Jackaboy!"

The small 27 year old chuckled, smiling up at Silver. "Let's get going then."

The two men stepped outside the door into the void, their steps rippling behind them as they made their way farther and farther into the pitch black nothingness. The green haired Irishman peeked behind him to see that the door for the office was gone, and to his luck no enemies had formed yet. It was strange, having no one coming after him. Where could the eccentric reporter personality be?

"Is it just me or has it been unusually quiet?" Jack asked, glancing at his companion who didn't have a care in the world, watching him skip along.

"I guess so, but isn't that a good thing?" The silver eyed man chirped, flashing a toothy grin.

"Sure? It's just kinda eery.. Hey um, Silver, so last night I had a weird dream about… er, Mark," the younger started, baffled by the fact that he was suddenly so open about talking about something that personal. Silver was understanding and trust worthy, so what harm could there be…?

"Yeah? Was it romantic or scary?"

"Both, in some form or another…" he chuckled, swallowing a thick lump in his throat as his stare flickered away. The superhero nodded, spinning in front of the other and walking backwards.

"You're a little jumbled in that head of yours aren't ya? If he makes you nervous when you're around him, and you kinda feel like you're gonna puke every time he smiles then you like him. Haven't you ever been in love before, Jacky?" He giggled, smirking playfully. "You're cute Jack, I don't think you understand how much you actually mean to Mark."

"Of course I've been in love before, but not with a guy… and he means a lot to me too, I just don't…"

Want to ruin our friendship?

Pursue this if it's only going to be short lived?

Am scared of being rejected?

"I'm pretty sure it's not love that I'm feeling, I don't _usually_ think about kissing him and holding him."

"But you're willing to risk your life to save him?" Silver inquired, blinking childishly at the shorter man.

The green haired Irishman froze, processing his words, his blood running cold.

"He's my friend-"

"Well of course silly! But love makes you crazy enough to do something like that."

They stopped silently, a faintly uncomfortable tension in the air.

"Please quit telling me I love Mark even though I don't know if I actually do…" Jack trailed off, rubbing the back of his head and sighing deeply. Maybe it wasn't as hard as he was making it out to be.

"I'm sorry, I stepped out of line. It's okay to be afraid sometimes though you know, you've been really brave through this whole journey! Take your time Jacky, it's terrifying to face against something as fragile as the heart, but don't worry. The bad will pass. I really am rooting for you just so you know, you're a cute kid and Mark needs someone like you."

Jack's eyebrows raised up, pleasantly shocked at how mature Silver instantaneously was when he needed to be, sort of reminding him of Felix in some aspects.

"You're starting to sound like Markus."

"He's a nice guy but he's too boring. Don't tell him I said that please."

Finally, that made the Irishman laugh, pushing lightly on the brunette's shoulder as they strided forward.

"Anyway, we should really get moving along."

The two came across a lone door that stood in the middle of a small pool. It was rusty and copper encrusted, bolts drilled into the metallic frame. With an exchanged look, Silver voluntarily took ahold of the handle and turned it with difficulty, flakes falling into the water and breaking the stilled surface. A light cracked through the broken seal, Jack grabbing on as well the help drag it open until they were successful at last. Much to the small European's surprise, another version of Mark jumped at the unexpected opening of the door, dramatically snapping his head in their direction and paralyzed in his place. Like Markus, his hair was shaven under, but accentuating the bright pink dyed mop of curls on his head. He was in a butter yellow dress shirt and brown slacks, suspenders strapped in place on his shoulders. The most noticeable thing about the man was the cotton candy coloured mustache, practically the thing Mark was known for on the internet.

"It appears I have visitors," he slurred, an unusual speech impediment laced on his tongue with every word. The pink haired man stood hunched, his thumbs hooked around the bottom of the straps of his black suspenders as he adjusted his lawline, squinting to inspect the intruders in the doorway of his secret hideout.

"That's Warfy," Silver whispered to Jack, jutting his leg out and took a huge step forward in front of the young 27 year old. "Hey friend! I haven't seen you recently!"

Wilford cocked an eyebrow at the silver eyed man and sidestepped to try and get a better look at the green haired gamer, only to have the superhero block his view.

"You're kind of in the way here ol' Silvery doo. Who is that tiny man over there?"

" _Tiny_? I'm only 5'9" you fooker!"

"He doesn't mean it Jacky," Silver assured with a laugh.

"Jack? Oh! You must be Jackaboy that I've heard so much about," Warfstache concluded with a childish glee, clapping his hands. "Let me a good look at that green lil thing."

The light brown haired persona refused to let him though, looking happy as usual, starting to irritate the reporter. He put a rough hand on Silver's shoulder, to which the other swiftly ducked under and grabbed ahold of his arm, flipping Wilford over his shoulder. Before he could hit the ground, the pink haired alter ego teleported back to his original spot, disheveled and startled. Jack boggled, his mouth ajar as he watched the super hero blithely and joyfully attacked the pink mustached man. Honestly, the Irishman hadn't expected the beatific personality to be able to fight, although it probably should have been obvious.

"Now now, there's no need to use violence," Wilford tried reasoning, putting his hands up in surrender.

"You're right! Why fight when we can just have a friendly conversation," the other agreed, sticking his hands above his head and crossing them behind it as he grinned, teetering on his heels, waiting it seemed. In one quick motion, the reporter whipped out a gun and shot at the silver eyed man's feet, said super hero dodging with ease. He deftly dropped to a crouch and kicked Wilford in the abdomen, jumping back closer to the small Irishman to use himself as a shield for him. "I'd like to at least, but I have to protect Jacky."

Warfstache got up from being knocked down, clutching his stomach and sneering.

"That hurt you lil bitch. I'm not gonna do something like _shoot_ him, I promise," he drawled, circling his lips into a chuckle, scheming something. Silver only continued to smile, standing his ground against the psychotic reporter. Jack placed a reluctant hand on the other's back, about to say something when a bullet shot past his cheeks, staring wide eyed.

"Whoopsie daisies, my finger slipped~"

For the first time that the green haired 27 year old had known Silver, the other man's eyes lowered into a glare, lips forming into a straight line as he charged Wilford, swinging a fist at his face. Warfstache zapped himself away, being countered with a hard kick to his legs, buckling under him, The super hero took this opportunity to land a punch onto the other persona's cheek, pulling back and awaited to see what the pink haired man would do next. He stood back up and grumbled, brushing the dirt from his yellow dress shirt before straightening. He rubbed his face while cursing under his breath at the stinging, huffing out at how perfectly fine Silver was. The brunette was up and jovial as before, his split second of anger passing it hadn't happened.

"If you can't play nice then Jacky and I will leave," Silver mocked, crossing his arms and pouting. Wilford rolled his eyes and raised up his gun, aiming it at the taller one.

"Don't you worry, this will be over in a jiffy."

The older of the two spun himself and swept Jack off his feet bridal style, bolting to a crate of boxes as Warfstache started pulling the trigger like crazy. He peered out from the side, holding the short Irishman close to his chest. The green haired YouTuber's breath hitched, grateful they had gotten of of the way and slipping out of Silver's hold.

"What do we do?" He asked, flinching at the whirling shots zipping onto the temporary shelter, frantically looking to his companion.

"Hey, don't worry about it, okay Jacky? Let me handle him, just go hide somewhere more safe."

The older man stood up and paced out, dancing it looked like as he made his way to Wilford while avoiding the firing of the other's pistol, smirking buoyantly. The Irishman bolted to the corner where more stacks of crates rested, slipping in the crack and crouching down. Wait, what the hell was he doing? He mentally scolded himself at how cowardly he was acting, glimpsing over to see Silver and the pink haired man battling, both by sporadic shooting and punching. He searched around for a weapon of any kind and snatched a knife that was poking out of one of the boxes, creeping out to sneak behind Warfstache. The silver eyed super hero instantly spotted what he was about to do and took it upon himself to distract the other, taunting him and jeering.

"You're getting rusty there Will! But thank you for the light sparring!"

"You son of a-" Wilford grumbled, hitting the ground beneath his hubmate's feet in anger.

Jack held his breath and swing the knife above his head, stabbing right into the reporter's back, ripping it out as the other fell to his knees in a blood curdling cry, watching him kneel over. Warfstache swung his head to his assailant, his buttery shirt quickly spreading across his shoulders until they were completely red, furious. Jack however wasn't intimidated by him, glaring at the injured persona before rushing back over to his companion's side. Wilford scowled and hissed in pain, abruptly zapping out of the room and leaving the two others to themselves.

"Are you okay?" The green haired 27 year old asked, turning to Silver with worry in his eyes.

"Yeah of course, he hardly put a scratch on me! No need to make yourself sick okay?" He assured, patting the younger man's head affectionately. He took Jack's hand and pulled him with, finally getting the time to look at where the hell they had come to. It looked like a movie set, bunches of boxes and props lying around askew. Cameras, including security ones, were spread out everywhere, giving the short gamer chills up his back at the thought of constantly being watched, which was highly likely. As the traveled forth to find any other doors, Jack started noticing the amount of equipment surrounding them has grown exponentially the farther they went,feeling like they were walking right into a trap.

"Maybe we shouldn't go this way," he spoke up, stopping which brought Silver to a halt just before the entered a dark corridor with a wavering light..

"Huh? How come? Are you afraid of the dark?" The superhero teased, giggling into his other hand.

"No! I ain't afraid of the dark, I just don't think it's a good idea to be so vulnerable and inclosed when we've got a gammy trigger happy dryshite running around tryin to kill us," Jack reasoned, his eyes fluctuating around them.

"Well there's only one way to find out then isn't there?"

"Wait what-?"

The lights flashed on with a blinding snare, the pathway behind them where they came from being blocked off. They could hear creaking, realizing too late that it was coming from the ground where they stood, giving in and allowing the two to fall.

"Jacky? Are you alright?"

Jack's eyes fluttered open, taking a minute to realize he was on top of something soft rather than the hard ground he had been expecting. The small 27 year old sat up with a groan, looking straight at Silver before jumping off him and helping the other stand.

"Shit, sorry I am. Did I land on you?"

"Yeah but it's okay, I'm just really glad you didn't get hurt," Silver replied, looking down at the younger male with a sunny quirk of his lips. Was there a time when this guy wasn't happy?

"Where are we?" The Irishman muttered, squinting in the dim light of the very small room.

"Looks kinda like a storage room or a cellar. This sure is fun!"

Jack shook his head and lifted his arms onto the walls, feeling the smooth wallpaper until his fingers briefly brushed against something with holes in it, concluding it must have been a vent. But he could hardly access the very bottom of it much less try to pry it open.

"Silver, do you think you can help me up? I think I found something to climb into," he reported, yelping when he was very unexpectedly was immediately picked up under the arms and lugged onto the strong shoulders of the alter ego until he was sitting on them. He balanced himself, properly taking hold of the sides of the air duct before pulling, grunting and almost falling back when it finally snapped off, dropping the square metal grate with a loud clunk. It was big enough to fit them both fortunately, sliding his upper half inside before successfully getting his entire body in and turning his head to see that Silver had caught the idea and easily lifted himself in, triumphantly grinning. With Jack leading, they quietly crawled through the tight metallic walls, passing through openings that lead to different rooms. The Irishman stopped when he finally found one that looked liked it lead outside, putting his full weight and pushing as hard as he could to make it cave in. The green haired man caught himself before he could fall, swinging his legs outside and landing on them with a sting to his calves. His heart jolted as soon as he spotted an amalgamation that hadn't seemed to notice them yet, yanking Silver behind a wall to hide from them. They looked like the ones that had spawned in both Mariko's and Glitch's domains, confusing Jack.

"Do the same ones that we found in the other places form randomly or just in those spots?" He asked.

"Mariko was the only one who was able to command them, and each monster if made from a certain emotion Mark is feeling. But normally there are certain ones that stay within their own territory, so it's really strange!" He quietly exclaimed. Jack tried his best to sneak away from them when he tipped over an unexpected movie prop just lying on the hard cold floor. This was enough to get the enemy's attention, the large virus like one sniffing the air and scanning its surroundings. It looked in their direction and stilled for what felt like far too long, letting out a powerful screech. The slug like amalgamation crackled in response and together they charged in the direction of the two men.

"Shit!"

The blue reptilian like monster dove head first into the wall and smashed a hole right through it, the impact blasting Jack and Silver to the ground. The superhero shot back up and picked up the younger, speeding down the long corridors that would often go from light to to dark. The ground rumbled with large footsteps not far behind, the amalgamation's eyes set on the green haired Irishman and his friend. It was terrifying to say the least, Jack clinging on for dear life as Silver ran faster than the others, taking a sharp left turn to try and detour them.

"I don't think we can lose them! We have to try and kill them or something," the 27 year old shouted, watching as the monsters were still after them.

"Welp! Then let's do it!"

Silver stopped and set Jack down, readying himself while Jack fumbled around to get the dagger out, grunting when he couldn't find it. Something glowed at the corner of his eye, the sword he first wielded in the school and snatched it up, it's green aura growing brighter with power. It looked different from before, less like a katana and more like a proper blade. He brought his attention back to the misfigured creatures approaching them, the smaller green one launching itself at the older brunette who stepped out of the way. Jack charged at the reptile, getting shoved back before countering it and stabbing it right in its torso, blood shooting out before it timbered down to the ground. Revelling at his victory and watching his companion move at super speed and landing hard kicks to the monster, he failed to notice the new one spawning behind him. Silver's eyes went wide and pointed.

"JACK WATCH OUT!"

A long tendril wrapped itself around Jack's abdomen, lifting him up and giving a rib crushing squeeze that caused him to scream. The new enemy was incredibly smooth and shiny, looking more like gelatin than anything else as it bounced curiously, the outline of its eyes looking at it's captured victim with fascination, closing its grip around him more. It hissed when Jack stabbed his sword into it, slicing the arm off and making him fall hard on his back against the concrete. He rose a hand to shield his face when the thing attacked again, the tentacle sharpening its pointing and stabbing right through the Irishman's hand. Luckily Silver had come in time to punch the limb of the beast so hard it burst like a bubble, flying up and flinging his legs into where the head was supposed to be. Dizzy from the pain, Jack stumbled back up with his sword in his bleeding hand, swinging wildly until he punctured the elastic skin, dragging the blade violently across the width of it. As soon as it flailed around on its back the silver eyed superhero was immediately at Jack's side, taking ahold of the injured hand and inspecting it.

"You got off lucky. It shouldn't effect once you go back so it's only temporary!" He commented, trying to lighten up the mood a little. The green haired European took a minute to stop until the spinning of his vision went away, wincing at the throb.

"Should I check on Mark then?" Jack suggested, smiling up at Silver. "Thank you for saving me."

"That's a good idea actually, and of course Jackaboy! Every hero needs a sidekick to rely on right?" He replied with a wink, putting a gentle hand on Jack's wound. The smaller nodded and took a deep breath, concentrating.

He heard a gasp that made his eyes open, Jack looking at a distraught looking Mark who held his hand with a shaky grip. When the gamer himself looked down, his heart lurched at the sight of blood, the deep gash from the attack still there. He thought Silver told him he wasn't going to get hurt in the real world?

"W-What happened?" The American stuttered, looking to his friend for an explanation.

"I, it's hard to explain."

"Did… Did I do that to you?" He asked, hurt lacing his words. When Jack was about to protest, Mark dropped the hand he was holding and glared at him, his shoulders trembling.

"You have to go."

"What?" The green haired man blurted, shaking his head. "Wait wait hold on Mark!"

"Go back right now. I don't want you getting hurt. I'm not stable right now and I don't know if I can protect you, I-I just, fuck, just leave me alone!"

"Mark please, I can help you get through this-"

"Fuck off Sean! I don't _want_ you here! Can't you get it through your fucking head that I don't want you getting hurt?!" Mark snapped, more like yelled back, gathering Jack's belongings and ramming them against the smaller's chest. What the hell was happening? Why was it going downhill so fast?

"Mark, please!" Jack tried to reason, putting his palm on Mark's shoulder only to have the brunette pull away like a frightened animal, staring at him with the most desperate look he had ever seen on the brunette's face.

"Go," he simply said, refusing to look more.

So Jack did.

* * *

What had he done?

Pacing around the room, his mind stormed over a cloud of dark depression that seemed to weigh itself down on his shoulders, causing his fingers to go numb. Mark grabbed a handful of his dark brown hair and sucked in deep breaths, his lungs screaming for air as his blood boiled inside and his heart clutched. Everything seemed to close up around him, shadows creeping up the walls until they had engulfed him in its cold blanket of crushing loneliness. It was hard to get any oxygen, panic swelling up in his blood as he clawed at his cheeks, squeezing his eyes shut. What had he done, driving the only person away who could save him. All hope was lost, there was no point in it if he wasn't needed.

Of course he was needed, all his fans would be devastated if something bad were to happen to him.

But that didn't mean Jack needed him. Oh how he loved him, almost to the point where he felt like his heart would stop beating if Jack ever decided to not want to be around him. He was okay with the idea of being friends, even if it would hurt him. He just wanted to make sure his beloved was happy, safe. Besides, who would want to be with someone this fucked up? This broken and _ugly_. The past haunted him, plagued his dreams with vivid and violent nightmares that left his insomnia ridden brain fried and constantly in fear. Memories of screaming and beatings burned into his skin, hating how hot they seemed to scorch onto his very being. He was weak, useless. Jack had been risking himself to try and put back together broken shards of a man once named Mark, only to have that monster push him away.

He needed to stop this flame from spreading into his flesh, this anger that never seemed to diminish and he was so scared, so afraid of giving in. But he felt like he had no other choice when voices in his head would tell him terrible things, things that hurt him and only made him feel even more worthless. He supposed these voices had been with him most of his dreadful life, laughing at how pathetic he was that he had let himself go mad. Yes, there was no way Jack would ever want to be with him, not especially after he had so violently shoved the selfless man away, begging him to go home where he knew the beautiful Irishman was going to be okay.

But he needed him so badly, he didn't want to die with this pain trapped deep inside the recesses of his mind, He just needed Jack…

" _Jack isn't coming back._ "

With tired eyes, Mark duly looked up at the voice pounding in his head, staring at a monochrome version of himself. He had seen him plenty of times before, mostly it was him telling him all the horrifying things he should do to himself, to give in and rest. Who was he? It had come to his attention there were several other versions there too. Holy shit Jack knew all along didn't he? The smaller man tried to talk to him about it on multiple occasions, but he denied it; denied _him_.

"But… I-I need him…" Mark replied lamely, his eyes downcasting in a sullen gaze.

"Tch, you're the one who drove him away. You're a pusillanimous peace of vermin. Why would he want you back, Mark?"

The American winced at the insult, bringing his arms over his chest and hugging him, shamefully glancing at the other three that stood near the suited version of him, his jaw shaking.

"Dark, that's enough. He was scared," the one with a white lab coat on protested, anger striking his face.

"You know I gotta agree with him on this one. Mark doesn't deserve someone like Jack. That kid was willing to get hurt to try and save him and what did our pitiful host do?" The one with the red dress shirt growled, glaring down at him.

"Jacky knew what he was getting himself into, he did it out of lo-"

"J-Just shut up the fuck up! Who are you people?!" Mark screamed, clutching his head and shaking it. He wanted to know, why was he terrorized by these visions of himself, like he had been cracked in some way and put into separate people.

"He doesn't even know what we are, how can this lowlife be worthy of being in control?" The suited one- Dark- sneered, his arms behind his back in a powerful stance. He had a point though, and Mark hated how right he was. He wasn't fit to be alive when he let everything get to him on such a deep personal level. That was something he had always loathed about himself, how was he supposed to live up to the strong man everyone else knew him as when really he was this small fragile hearted person? Oh how disgusting he was.

"Listen here, Mark~" Dark started, looking down at the brunette with such softness and sweetness. "It would be best if you let me take it from here. I know just how hard you've been working, and your whole life you've done nothing but suffer. It's okay to rest," the man practically purred, his whole demeanor changing, his facial expressions becoming soft and sympathetic. His words were tempting, having this soft lull to them that made Mark want to close his eyes and fall asleep to. The alter ego pet Mark's hair gently, the others seeming to disappear from his view as his eyelids started to get heavy, the other's melodic voice ringing in his ears.

"I'll take good care of _him_ , I promise. I know how you long for his touch, his gorgeous body in your arms, his voice gasping your name so beautifully. Jack will finally be mine~ Just let me take over and you can have what you've been dreaming of. You just have to let me in, it's as simple as that."

This made Mark's eyes open wide at him, his blood boiling with an intense rage, growling at the monochrome persona and shoving him away. No, there was no way he was going to give Jack up, not for anyone and especially not to the likes of this creep who not even five seconds ago had mocked him. He would give up his own life if meant the safety of the younger gamer.

"No, no I'm not gonna let you touch him."

Dark's face grew angry, standing straight and walking aggressively at the brunette, sizing him up.

"I don't think you have a choice. You're too frail to fight back, so be a good boy and fall asleep," he chuckled lowly, grabbing Mark by the neck and lifting him up. "There is _nothing_ you or he can do to stop me."

Mark desperately grabbed at Dark's hands to try and pry them off, gasping for air as his vision started fading into blackness, choking out curses. And then there was nothing.

Jack felt the hairs on his arms rise as he stood up when the overhead announcer told him his flight had arrived, rubbing at his puffy eyes. He hardly slept that night considering his fight with Mark that exploded in his face, exhaustion seeping from his body. He couldn't stop himself from crying, running away like a dog with its tail between his legs. The gut curdling feeling that had twisted its way in his stomach was making him concerned however, like something horrible was about to happen. He didn't like it one bit, and it was telling him to go back. But Mark had told him not to help or put himself in danger. The Irishman stared down at his injured palm, the large scar that was starting to form peeking from the bloodied bandage. He was never going to get the image of Mark's horrified face when he saw what had happened, like his heart had been ripped out and laid out on the ground. How could he be so stupid? Mark was in trouble and needed him, why was he running away from his problems?

Because he was afraid.

Of what though? He shouldn't have done what Mark told him.

Jack closed his eyes and squeezed his hand shut tightly, inhaling deeply. He was running away from his fears, but if he really did.. _Love_ Mark, then he should go back.

"Shit…" he grumbled, turning around and sprint to the doors, pushing past people in the crowded airport.

Please be okay Mark


	7. Chapter 7: The Lamentation

Chapter Seven

It was much too quiet; even from the outside Jack could tell something terrible had happened. As he got out of the cab, he quickly paid the driver with what little money he had in his immediate disposal and hopped out of the vehicle, rushing to the front gates of Mark's luxurious Los Angeles lights were on in the house, every single one of them, and the door was wide open. The Irishman slowly made his way to the entrance, keeping his guard up in case an intruder was the cause of this- to which Jack was only half hoping it was. The night sky only made the fact that the house was all lit up and empty even more creepy, an air of gut wrenching fear and depression hanging around the building. Why was everything going so wrong in such a short amount of time? Maybe he didn't really understand what was happening, maybe this was bigger than he imagined. He thought everything was getting better, that he was finally getting down to the end of whatever this was. Regarding both his feelings and the safety of his… friend. But it all fell apart faster than Jack could blink, leaving him dumbfounded and more confused than he had ever been in his whole life. He just wanted everything to go back to normal.. Or at the very least as normal as it could be.

But the small YouTuber stood just a few steps from the front door when he heard rustling from the kitchen, glass breaking. With a sharp inhale, Jack snuck his way to peek inside, spotting something hunched over near the counters. He could hardly see what it was, but soon the thing stood up to reveal it was Mark, his glasses broken beneath his feet and grabbing at his head, muttering something. The 27 year old stepped into the area and cleared his throat, catching Mark's attention who's napped his head back to look at Jack, shivers running down his spine.

"You shouldn't be here kid," he growled, moving forward aggressively before suddenly yanking himself back with a cry, like he was fighting with himself.

"Arthur?" Jack tried calling, advancing toward him slowly.

"Jack, stay away! Mark's gone now, so there's no fucking point in trying to help now."

Shaking his head, the green haired man rushed over to Arthur who was stumbling backwards and thrashing around, trying to get away from the other.

"Arthur let me try and fix this-"

"You're so fucking stubborn! Just leave us alone!" The brunette interrupted, steadying himself and panting. "Things have gotten way out of hand and I can't guarantee you're not gonna get killed so screw off kid."

"No! Why don't you fookers let me decide what I can or can't do!" Jack protested, grabbing both sides of Mark's head, flinching when his gaze was momentarily blinded by a bright flare. He blinked a few times until he found himself face to face with Arthur, the other man's face red and pulling himself back.

"Fine, get yourself killed, see if I care…"

"What's going on, what did you mean Mark is gone? What… happened in here?" The smaller asked, his eyes wide as he looked around. The hub was completely destroyed to shambles, echoes of water falling from a distance and low grumbling. It was almost non existent to the void outside, merging with the blackness that seemed to suck everything in its domain. He could see the glowing specks of the pink and green falling down like slow, disappearing once they hit the ground.

"We told you not to come back. Now you see why?" Arthur answered softly, folding his arms against his chest and looking off in the distance. Jack couldn't help but grab onto his chest, standing next to the older and furrowing his eyebrows.

"What happened?"

With a sigh, Arthur's brown eyes glanced over to the smaller, a flash of apprehension in them as he rubbed the back of his neck. He was never good at giving bad news or comforting, so he really was going to regret this, especially when he had actually been on Dark's side earlier for just that moment..

"Mark disappeared. Dark got ahold of him after you left. He was weak and distraught that you got hurt, so it was easy to take control."

"W-What?"

"Mark is dead, he's not coming back kid."

"Mark… no, he can't be dead..ahaha, good joke Arthur. What really happened?"

The persona sighed, staring at the ground where their feet stood, turning into a pained glare.

"It's not a joke Jack."

"I don't b-believe you.."

The tone in his voice made Arthur grimace, trying to think of something that would change that heartbreaking expression the Irishman was giving him. Jack fell to his knees, shaking his head and covering his face with his hands, trying to hold back the tears that were trying to surface. He felt like a part of him just got torn off, his heart twisting into a terrible knot that made it even harder for him not to burst into sobs. It couldn't be true, was that even possible for him to be gone? With newfound determination, the Irishman clinched his palms into fists, standing up and rubbing his eyes.

"No, I'm going to find him. He can't have completely disappeared."

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to Arthur, who wouldn't meet his gaze but Jack got the message and placed his own on top, smiling up at the brunette.

"Look, I'm really bad at this kind of thing, and there's no way I can confidently say that you're going to get the outcome you want because that's not how it works.. But uh, I can try and write it a different way and…. Help?" He nervously offered, the corners of his lips curving up in what was supposed to be a comforting smile. He didn't think it was possible at all to save Mark, now that Dark had taken over.

"Thank you, that's all I really need."

"O-Of course…" The brunette muttered, his cheeks heating up. Jack noticed this and let out a chuckle, looking away from the embarrassed persona to cover up his own burning face.

Arthur nodded and retracted his hand, deciding to move on forward with Jack close behind as they stepped outside the remains of the office, a deathly gelid breeze striking through them. They traveled cautiously across the long stretch of vacancy, the green haired gamer flinching at each sound that seemed to prick in his ears. He should have been used to this by now but it felt like every time he was subjected to coming back to Mark's subconscious it proceeded to get worse and worse each time. The green haired 27 year old was grateful to have some sort of company, even if the man escorting him tended to be a bit too rough for his liking. Up ahead they could hear something, music very quietly playing as a spark of light flickered in the emptiness ahead of them. A familiar figure came to view not long after they had spotted no sign of activity, Jack rushing toward him.

"Silver!" He exclaimed, a smile spreading across his face. The superhero whipped his head to look back and grinned, immediately picking up the small irishman in a bear hug.

"Jacky! Thank god you're here! I was just following Wilford but I seemed to have lost him somewhere on the way to this weird carnival," Silver explained, setting the other down gently and meeting Author's jealous gaze. This went unnoticed by the boy the others were so focused on luckily.

"Carnival?" Jack whispered, suddenly realizing they were at the entrance to such a thing, a large sign up above their heads with bright blinking flashes and in big bold letters reading 'CIRQUE DE DESESPOIR'. That name didn't make Jack feel any better about what might happen, especially if this was going to end up showing him another memory of Mark. Although incredibly curious to find out more about his friend's unspoken past, he was afraid of finding out all the answers. In order for someone to obtain something like a personality disorder they would have needed to go through something so traumatic. The Irishman didn't know much about psychology, but he at least could figure that much out.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to smile at his friend.

"Be careful, if it's Warfstache we're dealing with then he's a bitch to find. He really likes to get on people's nerves and do this bulshit teleporting thing that totally breaks the fourth wall," Arthur warned, sighing rather exasperated when they passed the front gates. It was completely abandoned, as far as Jack could see, an eery silence haunting the space around them. Despite the uneasy feeling that seemed to be prodding at his brain, Jack shrugged it off and decided Mark was much more important at the moment than temporary fear and anxiety. The area around them was towered by tents and abandoned rides, bright flashing lights everywhere with billboards that said what each spot was for. The trio had been wandering around for quite some time when they found themselves back near the entrance once more, confused.

"We might have to split up, this place is fookin' huge," the Irishman suggested, looking back at his companions for their opinions. He noticed they shared an equally nervous glance before returning their attention back to the 27 year old.

"I mean, you're not wrong."

"But it could be pretty dangerous. You tend to get in a lot of trouble Jacky," Silver finished, quirking his lips a little to make the comment more light hearted.

Jack furrowed his eyebrows and scrunched up his nose, puckering his bottom lip in protest.

"I think it would be easier if we're looking around in different spots just in case. We don't have to be away from each other for that long, only like half an hour or something. I promise I'll be careful," he pleaded, looking at both of them, hopeful. Finally Silver cracked and broke out into a small smile, taking ahold of the green haired lad and hugging him.

"Alright, just stay safe okay? If you got hurt again I don't know what I would do."

Arthur grumbled before scratching at his head and rolling his eyes.

"You're a real pain in the ass kid, you know that?"

Jack only smiled and pulled away from the superhero before the three of them parted.

The first thing the thin YouTuber noticed was the child again. It had been a while since he had seen the little version of Mark, so obviously he felt obligated to follow him to see where he was going. Jack chuckled to himself as he realized it become a theme now just to pursue this kid, but every time he did he seemed to have found all the answers he was searching for; and some he wished he had never found out. Seeing him gave the Irishman a sense of hope that Mark was still alive; there was no way he could be gone.

"Wait!" Jack called after, trying his best to catch up with the child. He was relieved when the little one stopped in his tracks, looking baffled up at the European and freezing up.

"Hey hey, don't worry little guy, I'm not gonna hurt you. I promise," he soothed, kneeling down and holding out his hand. He half expected the 10 year old to disappear like he had in the school, but to his surprise the tiny Mark took it, solid and real. He gave a smile to the brunette and stood up, the younger returning it more confidently than before.

"I need to show you something," he spoke quietly, his happy expression falling as he pulled the 27 year old along,

As of this moment, the green haired lad had absolutely no idea where the fuck he was going, the terrain unfamiliar. Everything seemed to be getting darker and… louder? There was a voice not far off ahead from the duo, a curtain flapping slightly open and pouring out the dim light from inside. Mark's grip grew tighter as he slowed down, terror stricken on his face. Very cautiously and slowly, Jack pulled the fabric back enough that he could peer into the spacious room, his eyes growing wide at what he was witnessing. It was a very young teenage boy's room, decked out in a similar space themed layout as the child Mark's bedroom. With his long hair covering up his face, the preteen version of Mark flinched at a loud banging noise just outside, the entrance slamming open with a very angry woman standing there. He couldn't hear the words she spoke, but he watched as she came over and screamed at the American, who clammed up into a little ball at the attack, which only seemed to enrage the stranger. She grabbed him by the shoulders and started shaking him, hitting him hard in the head and spitting at him, frustrated with his lack of response and shoving him back. The black haired lady hissed something out that made Mark's face grim, shuddering as soon as she left the room. He immediately broke down and started sobbing into his arms, curling up on his side and burying his face in the pillow. Moments later there was a small knock, opening carefully to reveal his father, who looked far worse than before. The older man gently sat down on the bed, silent for a second before speaking softly to his son, explaining something it looked like.

"That's when I told my step mom I was interested in guys," Mark interrupted, his voice quivering and small. "She didn't like that."

"So…. she just attacked you?"

The little brunette nodded, clinging onto Jack to stop himself from crying. The Irishman's heart broke, picking him up and holding him close as he finished the scene.

Mark sat up and rubbed his eyes furiously, nodding slightly in reluctant understanding. His dad gave him a light hearted smile, giving a weak hug before standing back up, clutching his abdomen and coughing, making his way back out. He stopped, thinking and opened his mouth to speak to his son, closing the door behind himself a short while after.

Wow.

The Youtuber let out a deep breath, letting the curtain fall back and staggering away.

"Are you okay Jack?" Mark asked, his eyebrows creasing in concern.

"Y-Yeah, just… it's always a lot to take in when I find out more about Mark's-er, your past. This is so fucking crazy, how can it be real?"

The tiny version of the gamer shrugged, his dull gaze averting to the ground.

"Do you mind putting me down?"

Jack set him down, Mark walking fast ahead of him and showing him to another tent, opening it to show another scene. Jack's face flushed when he watched the slightly older Mark in his room with another boy, kissing him. They grabbed each others heads, his friend pushing the other boy down and getting on top of him. They were interrupted however by stomping, the same woman as before barging in and hauling Mark off of his boyfriend, trying to wrestle out of her hold and kicking the boy out. She pushed his head down on the ground and growled at him, slamming her foot into his side and left him kneeling. It transitioned into him, about 17 or 18 now sitting in an office. He was littered in bruises and cuts, his eyes heavy and jaded.

"I can't watch anymore."

The kid hummed in response, not looking up at Jack. Bewildered that he had said something wrong, he was about to ask when the kid bolted in the other direction, causing the Irishman to run after him.

"Mark?! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you!" He shouted.

His heart was racing, more scared than he thought he would be at the thought of losing the young Mark. It was like hearing the news about his best friend being dead all over again, slowing him down until he fell onto his hands and knees. There was no use, chasing after the person he cared about most in this world. In his moment of distress, Jack felt like disappearing too, not wanting to deal with the heartache and pain he felt in his chest.

He couldn't give up, not yet. Mark needed him, and so did the others. Oh right, Silver and Arthur were probably worried about him..

The green haired man calmed himself down before shakily picking himself back up, briskly looking around in case Mark was anywhere and turned around where he came from. He retraced his path until he found himself back at the entrance, waiting for the other two.

And waited.

….And waited….

Jack hugged his chest, pacing around in worry. It had been past the time limit they gave themselves, not that he could really tell time in this place. But something was terribly fallacious, he could feel it. He finally decided to go look for his companions, sprinting into a run through the blinding circus.

"Silver?! Arthu-"

The gamer yelped when he bumped into something hard, tripping back and falling to the ground. He looked up and practically tackled the author when he recognized him.

"Boy am I glad to see you!" He exclaimed. The older was paralyzed in surprise, unsure of what just happened. When he came to his sense he shook his head and flushed hard at the Irishman hanging off of him, putting his hands on the other's slim waist.

"Y-You can get off me now…" He stuttered, his eyes looking everywhere but Jack. The smaller male obliged and coughed into his hand, chuckling.

"Where's Silver?"

"I… don't know actually. I figured he'd be stuck with you since he likes you so much…"

Jack quirked an eyebrow at the statement but brushed it off.

"Well we should go find him, I wanna finish Warfstache off so I can get to bottom of this shite. I'm sick and tired of always being kept in the dark," he replied, attempting to make his way forward when Arthur grabbed the back of his collar and jerked him back.

"Don't go running off by yourself again," the brunette sighed, getting in front of the green haired gamer, more as a way to protect him in case something came at them that the other couldn't handle. Which was always, this kid was really stupid when it came to facing danger.

The couple roamed the amusement park, skeptical about how perpetually vacant it was as they passed each activity. Just in case, Jack would stick his head inside the tents to see if maybe they could find something that might lead to the whereabouts of their fried. The 27 year old wanted to convince himself everything was fine; Silver was an amazing fighter and fully capable of taking on someone like Wilford Warfstache. That didn't stop the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Somewhere in the middle of all the attractions, the boys heard metal banging against each other, the echoes rippling through all of the obnoxious music and irritating flashes. They looked at each other before advancing toward it, searching as soon as the noises stopped. Crawling from the darkness came one of the slimy green amalgamations from the school, unhinging its jaw and letting acidic saliva drip onto the ground. Before it could attack however, a foot stomped hard on its head, a tall figure striding into view. Silver's head hung low, not looking at the two in front of him despite having a very ecstatic Irishman trying to approach him. It was Arthur that stiffened and snatched the unsuspecting gamer away, refusing to let him get any closer.

"Dude, what the hell! It's Silver-"

"Shut up," the author stated, staring dead ahead at the superhero in a glower.

"That's it, I am fookin sick of your attitude!"

"Jack, I said shut up."

"No! I'm not gonna let you treat me like shit anymore- nff!"

The brunette clasped his hand around Jack's mouth, wrapping his arm around the Irishman's abdomen and bringing him closer to himself, backing away slowly from the immobile personality in front of them. Something was really wrong, he didn't know what but from the instant he saw his eyes he knew this wasn't the Silver they knew. Jack probably couldn't sense it, but the energy around the other was deadly, dull, and out of Silver's control. He stilled the wriggling and protest from the man he was holding and leaned in to speak very softly in his ear.

"That's not Silver you moron. We have to get out of here quick."

The grey eyed persona finally lifted his face up, his irises a light shade of pink now and glazed over. He said nothing and just stared at them, shuffling a step in front of him and limping. Arthur hissed out a breath and tugged Jack behind him, getting ready for the inevitable.

"Silver! Can you hear me?!"

"Quiet you bastard!"

Jack pushed Arthur to the side and ambled his way to the once happy man, steadying himself to face the other.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything?"

"Because he can't you silly goose. He's nothing more than my puppet. This rat bastard was hard to catch, I'll tell ya that," slurred a familiar voice from the shadows, stepping out and revealing none other than Wilford Warfstache, coming to a stand next to the brainwashed personality. The green haired lad gritted his teeth, tautly clenching his fist until his knuckles went white. The reporter chuckled into his hand, snapping his fingers with other and the scene changed, leaving only Jack and Silver alone. They were in a very large and very busy city, the towers reaching as high as the clouds with a million windows brandishing the light that bounced off of them. Everything was on it's side, the sky to his left and the streets to his right. He placed his foot on the glass and felt it crack, his reflection broken. He jerked away when Silver suddenly appeared in the image too, spinning behind him and barely dodging a powerful sucker punch from the other.

"Snap out of it mate! I really don't want to fight you!" The younger man exclaimed, holding his hands up in surrender. The brunette didn't respond, swaying and boring a hole into Jack. He fell into a dash and jumped up, swinging his leg until it made contact with his target's chest, sending the kid flying through the air and crash into the ground. He fell through the metal frame of the window and into the building itself, landing on a pile of rubble. He groaned, rubbing his head before looking around and spotting his sword, contemplating whether to use it or not. He didn't want to hurt his friend; he knew it wasn't his fault at all. It was Warfstache that did this to him. Now livid and frustrated, Jack got up, cursing under his breath when Silver fell from the ceiling, landing on his knees. The brunette tackled Jack, catching him off balance before shoving his knee in the man's stomach, pushing him back and going in for another punch. He flashed in front of the European, landing a hit in his jaw and pinned him to the ground. Silver straddled the Irish YouTuber, one hand holding Jack's arms up the boy's head and using the other to firmly take ahold of his throat, pressing down on it. The green haired 27 year old gasped for air, struggling to free his captured wrists.

"P-Please…" he choked out, feeling his vision going slightly fuzzy from the lack of oxygen. What would happen to him if he died in Mark's subconscious? Would he die for real when he got back? He could tell that some of his ribs were likely broken, the pain throbbing throughout his body. He coughed roughly when Silver let go, his pink eyes wide and shaking in top of Jack. He let go of the other and clutched his head, the colour in his gaze returning to a normal grey.

"Jacky, you can't be around me. I can't control myself. I-I'm so sorry, but you have to kill me."

"W-What?"

"Kill me now, please. Before I end up murdering you or worse: give you to Dark. I don't want you to get hurt because of me of all people," he stammered, heaving and grabbing onto his hair, trying to rip it out. Jack shook his head and tried to reach out to touch the other's face, the superhero flinching away.

"But…"

"Jack, please I'm begging you. If I end up being the one who hurt you I could never live with myself. I've already caused enough damage…" he cried out, clawing his nails into his skin so hard he started to bleed. The Irishman so badly wanted to save the other, refusing to give up and do what Silver asked. After everything he went through with him, there was no way he could do something like that. He needed to act now, the personality quaking as he let out a whale, abruptly stopping all movement. Not a second later he latched onto Jack's jugular once more and pushed him down, strangling him while looking at him with a dead, cold lower. The green haired man was able to throw him off and scramble to get up, glancing back at the glowing scabbard that called out to him.

He really didn't have a choice did he?

With a grunt, Jack sashayed his way and snatched the weapon, pointing it at the superhero with uncertain disinclination. It was life or death, and seeing his companion beg Jack to kill him didn't make things easier. Sure he had been able to slay Mariko and Glitch, but that was different, they were bad. So now he was faced with only one possibility: Kill Silver. He squeezed his eyes shut and held in a scream he wanted to let out, deflecting one of his friend's attacks. This was it, his opportunity to save the jovial persona. This was his chance…

When he found an opening, Jack jabbed the blade at the superhero, only to have the brunette grab the metal and flip himself into the air, landing on the length of the sword and kicking Jack under the chin. With his full weight, he shoved Jack's foil until it stuck to the cemented walls, seizing a handful of his green dyed hair and dragging him across the destroyed surface. The younger male screeched, thrashing hard and snagging a nearby shard, slicing Silver's hand and causing him to retract it back in pain. The Irishman rolled over and obtained his scabbard once more, going in while the persona was distracted. He felt his veins run cold when the tip made contact, sliding through Silver's chest until he reached the guard. They both slumped to their knees, Jack trembling as he removed the sword. He felt arms wrap themselves on his back, Silver burying his head into the crook of his friend's neck.

"Thank you…" he rasped, giggling weakly. Jack couldn't help the whimper that escaped his lips, clinging on to him.

"I-I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything!"

"But you did... Heh, besides, this is much better than getting consumed by Dark…" Silver joked, his hands slowly losing their grip on Jack's small form. "I love you, Sean."

It hit him like a ton of bricks, hearing those words come out of Silver much less someone who was apart of Mark. He felt the life leave from him, not letting go even after the other slumped against him. The walls around them began splintering, shattering to the ground and bringing them back to the circus where Arthur and Wilford were fighting. They both looked pretty beat up, diverting their attention to the couple that stay sat on the floor. The angry personality immediately came to Jack's aid, kneeling down behind him and stared at his mindmate, grimacing. The younger man was bawling into the corpse of his companion, a death grip on the man that even Arthur couldn't break up.

"Aaw, I see you killed ol' Silverydoo," the pink haired reported snickered, lifting up his gun and pointing it at them. The superhero's body gradually turn into ashes, swirling above the gamer in a whirlwind before dispersing into specks of light that fell serenely onto them. Jack instantly got up and let out a blood curdling howl, swinging his sword at Wilford, fully intent on defeating him.

"This is your fault! You're the reason Silver couldn't return to normal!"

He marked a large gash on Wilford's stomach, making him wobble. The older man yelped, pulling the trigger and hitting Jack in the shoulder, but it didn't seem to cease him.

"He feeds off of this. It makes him stronger!" The persona mocked.

He small European kept ramming his scabbard into the other man until he was on his knees, breathing heavily before lifting up the weapon to strike the final blow. Warfstache managed with the last of his power to teleport out of the way just in time, causing the YouTuber to bellow in anger. He soon started laughing, tears streaming down his cheeks and letting his weapon drop to the ground with a loud clunk. Arthur stepped in and held the boy until he quieted his sobbing, petting his hair and sighing.

"It's okay now... sssh, it's gonna be okay.."

Jack could at last feel the exhaustion, blacking out on Arthur's shoulder as he bled out.


End file.
